Scams continue to plague many around the nation. They target individuals and businesses, including smalltown newspapers! Your hometown newspaper is among those subjected to a fraudulent scheme. Unbeknownst to many, other businesses and individuals make a business model to misrepresent themselves and take advantage of others. This very model has caused a headache for your hometown newspaper as
continues to fight a Connecticut based business that continues to contact our readers and state that they work alongside us.
This is nowhere near factual. In fact, That’s Great News has received countless messages, along with cease and desist letters from many press associations, noting that they are not to use The Eureka Herald’s product (or other publications) for their gain. The headache began several years ago with a representative at that company purchasing a subscription. We had no idea that they would contact those we featured to solicit business.
According to their website, That’s Great News “works” with more than 10,000 newspapers within the United States. The only problem… the newspapers only become aware of this “partnership” when their readers contact them to share when their counterpart reached out to sell a product.
For The Eureka Herald, shortly after we learned of their business model, we provided them with a cease and desist letter. We also refunded their subscription cost. The letter noted that they were not to utilize our publication for their company’s gain. They re-subscribed, but we immediately cancelled the subscription, knowing the business name. We also added a disclaimer in our publication noting that the use of our product for profit is prohibited.
Unfortunately, just this month, we learned that they had worked around our system and used a potentially fictitious name and email to subscribe. The name isn’t associated with their business but, the physical address they used was associated with that business.
We have again reached out to their representatives and referenced the Supreme Court ruling in Andy Warhol Foundation v. Goldsmith. The ruling could be read to mean that “anyone who seeks to re-use a work that makes a fair use of another work will need to make sure their re-use, as well as that of the initial work, is fair,” further referencing that That’s Great News’ business model infringes
on the papers’ copyrights.
We know that That’s Great News will not stop, regardless of our attempts. Countless cease and desist letters have been sent by newspaper associations across the nation. Many of those 10,000 newspapers they say they “partner” with publish a disclaimer in each and every edition, noting that their product isn’t to be used for profit for a company outside of their own. Yet, That’s Great News’ business model is going to continue to be fraudulent. Just because they purchase a subscription, does not mean they now “partner” nor does it give them a right to profit from another’s work.
Although some newspapers may work with others to offer various services, from plaques showcasing a recently featured article to assistance in selling featured advertising options, most do not. They keep all these things in-house. There are companies out there that do work with newspapers for these various things, however they do just that; both companies partner with one another to provide services, with both benefitting from those services.
Our weekly publication, The Eureka Herald, offers these services in-house. If you have been featured in a newspaper article and would like to see options of creating a frame with that article, please contact our office at 620583-5721 or email [email protected]. Please note that if we outsource these endeavors, future articles and/or advertisements will be shared at that time.
We also recommend that if you receive a call that may be questionable, to reach out to the business being represented directly. In this instance, we wouldn’t have known That’s Great News was marking our publication for their gain.
Robin Wunderlich Editor The Eureka Herald
