Crazy copyright bot threatens those who tweet tiny poem

This has to be some kind of brilliant hoax: a Twitter 'attribution troll' is showering threats on anyone who tweets a popular one-line poem.

On Press Inc., supposedly a division of Knopf Publishing (according to its Twitter profiles), was running a search of its own and issuing tweet after threatening tweet to anyone who dared publish a short (really short -- under 140 characters) poem by reclusive poet, Shaun Shane, without attribution. The entire poem reads as follows: "If only our tongues were made of glass, how much more careful we would be when we speak."

The threats--which have apparently escalated to imaginary police investigations over Amazon reviews, too--are baseless, writes TechDirt's Tim Cushing. Even if a tweet-length poem meets the expressive requirements for copyright protection, experts say it's unlikely to generate a credible lawsuit.

I tried it and it worked like a charm:

⟿ Follow Rob Beschizza on Twitter.

MORE: bots • copyright • twitter

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bardfinn

I have become oppressor of free speech and art, destroyer of worlds!
Just_Ok

Roses are red
Violets are blue
On Press Inc is
Copulating Arachis hypogaea
- legsmalone
  
  I’m going to tweet this without attribution.
Samsa

The bot’s account is now suspended.
- http://www.xradiograph.com/ OtherMichael
  
  Awwww!
- That_Anonymous_Coward
  
  Over at Techdirt Tim had a long list of accounts they were using…
kaplanfx

IANAL, but the phrase is almost certainly not eligible for copyright in the first place: http://fairuse.stanford.edu/commentary_and_analysis/2003_09_stim.html
- bardfinn
  
  If only our keyboards were made of glass…
  
  Wait. Mine is.
  - http://nelc.livejournal.com/ NelC
    
    “…how much more careful we would be when we tweet.”
    
    …oh, yeah, so it is.
    - andygates
      
      Hey, I just made that up independently. Imma sue you!
      - http://nelc.livejournal.com/ NelC
        
        But bardfinn and I published first. ;)
http://twitter.com/amanicdroid Dr. Chronobiologist

The bot came back and was resuspended while replying to my use of the poem :(
iamlegion

The fact that the bot says things like “…or they are libel.” is the tip-off that no lawyer came within a country mile of this brilliant marketing idea…
- Frank Lee Scarlett
  
  Wasn’t Orly Taitz a lawyer before she was a dentist? Or is perhaps she’s a lawyer/dentist? Or starred as a child-prodigy lawyer/dentist?
  
  At any rate, she’s multi-talented and seems to have plenty of time…
social_maladroit

Once I made a tweet, and it seemed a gas
Soon turned out
Had a tongue of glass
Seemed like the real thing
Only to find
OnPress Inc
Left a bot behind

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WGU_4-5RaxU
http://twitter.com/mjlonsda Matt L

Maybe this is all a brilliant ploy by Shaune Shane to put the Streisand Effect to a positive use. After all, who had ever heard of him before this BoingBoing post? And what are the odds he ever would have been mentioned here, if not for this?

Assuming that all publicity really IS good publicity, that is.
- http://twitter.com/TimCushing Tim Cushing
  
  I doubt it. It seems like he’d rather not talk about it at all. I was threatened with a lawsuit for “copyright infringement, defamation of character and making false claims” several days before this article was posted. (He had a problem with my faux review of his book over at Amazon.)
  
  http://www.amazon.com/review/RVOPTWIHQE9NH/ref=cm_cr_dp_title?ie=UTF8&ASIN=1467522619&channel=detail-glance&nodeID=283155&store=books
  - That_Anonymous_Coward
    
    OHAI TIM!
http://twitter.com/Wallaby Lee Pierce

The account @saewiaonpress is now suspended. I guess that baby troll got washed out from under the bridge.
http://www.poisonyourmind.com/ nickgb

Just to be clear, the one example cited in your link of what could be a protectable tweet is … a tweet-length poem.

The real question is damages, of course, and thanks to statutory damages that’s a real question.
- andygates
  
  Weird thing is, though, a tweet-length poem is only really going to get exposure if it’s tweeted.
  - http://twitter.com/amanicdroid Dr. Chronobiologist
    
    A poem so small, I tweeted it all.
    
    If only our copyrights were made of glass, how much more careful poets would be when they write.
BookGuy

I love how it just keeps hectoring you. This is what happens when a bot mates with the Overly Attached Girlfriend meme and has a baby.
oasisob1

How little of the poem, and which part brings the hellfire from the bot?
Our tongues were made of glass – is that enough?
carlogesualdodivenosa

John Keats
John Keats
John
Please put your scarf on.

(Just seeing if the Salinger Estate lawyers are still in the office.)
Cormacolinde

Note the Invisible Children is the weird christian organization that was behind Koney 2012.
OldBrownSquirrel

If only our Twitter bots were made of glass, how much more careful we would be when we troll.
http://blog.doomsdayzen.com agonist

I wonder if tiny changes like changing “we would” to “we’d” or reordering “If only our tongues were” to “If our tongues were only” if the bot would find it.
That_Anonymous_Coward

Oooh I got to say it over on TD and now I get to say it here about the guy behind this stupidity…
Christ what an asshole.
http://twitter.com/theaardvark theaardvark

In a complete turnaround, it seems a new account is now thanking people for tweeting the poem.
innmonpressn: @theaardvark Thanks again.Your tweeting of Shane’s work brings it to a larger audience and so increases his book sales. Thanks!
from web in reply to theaardvark

innmonpressn: @theaardvark Thanks for tweeting Tongues Made of Glass by Shaun Shane http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/04-tongues-made-of-glass/ This is Shane’s Publisher. On Press Inc
onpress17

This On Press Inc. Shaun Shane’s Publisher. We would really like to see if you’ll come out from hiding behind this cowardly shield of words, on some poorly excuted blog that list no way of getting a hold of you and give us some real world contact information. For surely, if you presume you are right then there can be no harm in having us settle this in court. Or perhaps your just a wanna be revolutionary that does nothing more than talk hiding behind some silly childish ranting on a webpage. Or are you really up ” to putting your money where your mouth is “ as they say. So give us some contact information and stop being so cowardly. On Press Inc.
- Gilbert Wham
  
  Awww, that’s super.
- Mutation_Engine
  
  Oddly enough i would usually expect a publisher to be capable of using proper spelling and punctuation. Of course i may be thinking of more traditional publishers that have higher standards of proofreading and literacy since printing an actual book in advance represents a significant investment of their own funds. i’m going to go out on a limb and guess that OnPress being a print on demand publisher means they consider themselves a vanity press where actual literacy and editorial standards are utterly irrelevant.
  So there’s that.
  And like many flyspeck companies they apparently can’t afford a real lawyer and have to write up their own incoherent and laughable legal threats. i’m almost tempted to mention OnPress to Ken & company at Popehat. OnPress’ twitter-spamming trollbot aspect might be of interest to that lot.
  - http://twitter.com/TimCushing Tim Cushing
    
    No need to go out of your way, M_E. Ken has already offered his assistance.
    
    https://twitter.com/Popehat/status/302123065557520386
- That_Anonymous_Coward
  
  ‘Poorly executed blog’
  Have you seen your companies web presence?
  It is a shame that you can’t seem to remember what town your located in unless of course I am missing some detail that some towns are more preferable than others in that area.
  Maybe we should just serve your registered agent at S&S and put and end to this…
http://boingboing.net/ Rob Beschizza

^o^ easy to get hold of