Full story here with a bucket full of links: Science Journal (Almost) Polices the Blogosphere. Short story, PhD student blogs about the analysis of a study in the Journal of Science of Food and Agriculture which had been picked up by mainstream press because it suggested that antioxidants in fruits were boosted by alcohol (i.e daiquiris are a health food). She did a review of the results and determined that the results were overblown and alcohol was not the best thing to use to boost antioxidants. In her posting she used a single chart and graph from the original paper. The publisher demanded she pull the graph and chart, she pulled it and posted about their demand, the bloggers went wild, and the publisher, John Wiley & Sons, relented by saying they had given her permission to use material.
Problem? First, the PhD student did not need Wiley’s permission. She was critiquing a publication, so fair use applies. I don’t need to go through the analysis, cause it is basic. Wiley needs better counsel. What they got was a PR nightmare from what was a non-winable issue to begin with. The business outcome here is terrible.
Second, as the student later determined, the license to the journal that her school had with the publisher gave her permission to excerpt anyway.
