Writer Monica Gaudio was surprised to see an old article of hers appear in Cooks Source, a "publication for food lovers in Western New England." So she wrote the magazine's editor to ask how they got it. The reply: insanity.

After a friend alerted Monica to her story's presence in the magazine, she determined that they'd essentially just stripped her story right off the website that originally ran it and stuck it in their magazine. She told Cooks Source that she'd like an apology and a $130 donation to the Columbia Journalism School. This, as Monica posts on her LiveJournal, is just a portion of the reply she received from editor Judith Griggs:

"Yes Monica, I have been doing this for 3 decades, having been an editor at The Voice, Housitonic Home and Connecticut Woman Magazine. I do know about copyright laws. It was "my bad" indeed, and, as the magazine is put together in long sessions, tired eyes and minds somethings forget to do these things.
But honestly Monica, the web is considered "public domain" and you should be happy we just didn't "lift" your whole article and put someone else's name on it! It happens a lot, clearly more than you are aware of, especially on college campuses, and the workplace. If you took offence and are unhappy, I am sorry, but you as a professional should know that the article we used written by you was in very bad need of editing, and is much better now than was originally. Now it will work well for your portfolio. For that reason, I have a bit of a difficult time with your requests for monetary gain, albeit for such a fine (and very wealthy!) institution. We put some time into rewrites, you should compensate me! I never charge young writers for advice or rewriting poorly written pieces, and have many who write for me... ALWAYS for free!"

Christ, this magazine is even more brazen than Gawker! But now the internet is angry, and Cooks Source's Facebook page is being bombarded with angry messages, and there's what appears to be a fake Twitter feed,. We imagine this is the most publicity Cooks Source has ever gotten. We've emailed the magazine and we'll post their reply if we get one.

Old people!

Update:

Here's a new Facebook page with one bazillion examples of other articles that Cooks Source just stole from the internet. They should have been a blog.