well, i think my stance on sources is pretty clear … but this would appear different. i haven’t yet read the lawsuit or the full story on this, yet (but i will). my initial reaction to this is that it certainly could be construed as similar to what Rick Bragg was accused of doing at the NY Times by using stringers or assistants to do the bulk of the work on a story, then refusing to acknowledge their efforts with a byline or as a contributor.

From wikipedia: On May 29, 2003, after being given a two-week suspension for writing a story that primarily used the research of a stringer, 3 Bragg resigned in protest from the Times4. The story which sparked the controversy was a story Bragg wrote about Florida Gulf Coast oystermen. He wrote a narrative first person story of how he experienced oystermen culture. Bragg spent one day in Apalachicola and used the research and interviews of a stringer who was working with him.

This incident caused the NY Times to rethink its policy on bylines and use of stringers, and on the surface it sounds similar to what Sherdog is accused of doing here.

I’ll post more when I’ve had time to read the original article.

It seems like that if Maysey didn’t contribute enough to the article to get a byline or at least a link, he was at least a source for the story, and wasn’t credited as that either.

Sherdog does little shit like this all the time that makes their stuff look like amateur hour. The same way the bottom of every fanpost here says, “The FanPosts are solely the subjective opinions of Bloody Elbow readers and do not necessarily reflect the views of Bloody Elbow editors or staff.” Sherdog really needs to start tacking shit like that on the bottom of most of their posts. That’s where you can give other people who helped in the article credit. That’s where you make sure everyone knows that it’s an opinion piece. That’s where you do this shit. It’s almost like no one at that website ever took a journalism class.

That might have been ok when the site just started up, but these are small things that would go a long way to a) cover their asses in spots like this, and b) make them look like they have a clue.

but I’ve always been under the impression that if you are in any way using another person’s work you should give credit. That goes for verbatim quotes, paraphrasing, or even just borrowing an original idea.

That’s just as a student though. I have no idea what the rules are for journalism.

I wonder why Maysey would even care enough to take this to court.

I don’t know about the merits of this specific case, but my question in general for the Sherdog defenders on this board is: How many times does Sherdog have to be in the middle of a controversy regarding their journalistic or business practices before you acknowledge that maybe there’s something questionable about the way they conduct themselves?

In what state/district court was this lawsuit filed?

The correspondence should be attached to the complaint, which should be a public record and available in the court in which it was filed.