My Reply to the Communications Director

This is the third of three consecutive posts regarding our newsletter and correspondence with our Communications Director. I have had no further correspondence or communications regarding this matter.

Upon reading the June 17th response from our Communications Director to my June 14th email I created this reply and emailed it that day. It is slightly edited and the edits are in square brackets:

"Hi [Communications Director]:

Thank you for your reply.

It would seem to me that you need an “error and omissions” section in the July newsletter, in which you add all of the necessary and agreed credits for the photographs and images contained in the June, 2009 newsletter. The goal is to protect the Association. This can be achieved by assuring that all copyright and ownership issues are properly addressed, and that owners of copyrights are properly acknowledged when their images, photos or text is used in the Association newsletter, websites, etc. “with permission”. That should avoid disputes and possible litigation for previously omitted acknowledgements. Printed media routinely includes an “errors and omissions” section and that would seem proper for a corporate newsletter. You could and should correct other mis-statements, such as the one regarding roofing project “costs” in the June newsletter. You will recall that I pointed this out to you during my “one minute” at the unit owners Forum portion of the Association meeting on June 12.

For the vast majority of BLMH unit owners, the only source of “official” and verifiable Association communications is their monthly “Manor Briefs”. It is their only source of information. There are and will be “clicks” and sub-groups in any organization. Your home may be the equivalent of the “water cooler” at the office where people can congregate, pass gossip, spread rumors and so on. However, it is not the official BLMH information nexus. I would hope you realize that.

I am a bit unclear. In your email response you stated that you “ emailed [the image owner], the creator, and asked for permission to use it temporarily. My note to him explained that we’re “. . . developing a website and the newsletter pdfs will be posted to that site. On the mastheads, I've added a hyperlink to your website to acknowledge your ownership of the image. Do you require any further copyrights?” “

This sidesteps the fact that you are and have used his images on the Association newsletter with no credit to him. From your statements I am not convinced that he is aware that we are using his images on a printed newsletter. Nor is it clear that he has given the Association permission to use his images on a printed newsletter. You stated that you had obtained permission for “developing a newsletter”. It is not in development. It has been printed and mailed. This is simply my conclusion based upon the information you have provided me in your email. I am the owner of copyrighted materials, and I take a dim view of attempts to skirt the ownership of my materials and diligently protect them. I do not think I am unique in this.

When (on which date) did you email [the owner]? Was it before or after you received my email? Ditto for the [Salisbury] photograph. Whatever the date, that information must be provided to the Board of Managers so it is retained to avoid litigation or disputes. You should print copies of any and all emails and provide them to our professional managers for retention should an issue occur in the future. The statute of limitations goes beyond the current term of your membership on the board. Or, to put it bluntly, the actions of any member of the Board of Managers today, may result in dispute at some time in the future. As clients have expressed to me, they adhere to the “Mack Truck” philosophy in which they assume I wlll be struck by a large vehicle and am no longer on the planet. However, my work and the consequences thereof will continue after I am gone. So too with you or any other member of the Board. Copies of the printed and distributed newsletter, websites and so on will exist for a possibly very long and indefinite period. I am sure you are aware of that. You must take all reasonable and prudent steps to protect the Association.

Returning to the matter at hand, the printed and distributed version of the June, 2009 newsletter did not give [the image owner] credit for the images contained therein. Your solution for future editions of the newsletter would seem adequate, assuming you are diligent in obtaining proper copyright clearances, and that [the image owner] is aware you are copying his images to a printed newsletter and has clearly and concisely stated that is acceptable and stated any conditions he might place on the printing thereof, which the association then satisfies. You stated that “To prevent future credit oversight, I’ve added a photo/image credit section to the newsletter template so all copyright attributions will be in one place. The June online version includes this section.” Unfortunately, the printed newsletter omitted this, didn’t it? Ergo, the need for an “errors and omissions” section in the July newsletter.

If you disagree, please advise me. However, you stated that “I am aware of copyright infringement policies, and respect them, as I routinely use photographs, diagrams, and other media at work”. You are therefore proficient and knowledgeable. The Association is consequently exposed.

By the way, the June newsletter makes no mention of the “June online version” nor does it provide a URL. So how are unit owners to know what is going on at BLMH? Isn’t that a significant oversight? The website was not mentioned in a prominent location in the June newsletter. Perhaps I missed it! So when are you going to tell the rest of us, that is, the 95% of the unit owners who do not attend Association meetings, coffee klatches or whatever, what the website URL is? “Everything can be resolved in communications” I was once taught. Others have said that everything can be controlled through communications. Which is your commitment?

I have taken the liberty to cc: those included in your email to me.
Regards,
[My Name and Address]