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Topic: Letters Sent to Romenesko
Date/Time: 5/11/2007 12:54:53 PM
Title: "I expected more from the Times of London"
Posted By: Jim Romenesko
 
From JOE NEUMAIER, New York Daily News: I was surprised to come upon a link yesterday to a piece in the Times of London (online edition only, though I may be wrong) that I believe is a blatant steal from a piece I wrote for the Daily News back in January. In fact, the writer, one Ian Johns, even credits the Daily News for an industry analyst quote, so it's like my house was robbed but the guy left a business card behind. Repeated emails to the Times of London [including the one below] have not been replied to.

To Whom It May Concern:

I'm the Sunday Features Editor with the New York Daily News, and read this story link via MovieCityNews.com. However, I believe a piece from Ian Johns in the Times of London (online edition), May 10, 2007, is, in part, a plagiarizing of a story I wrote in the Daily News published Jan. 28, 2007 (see attachment), in which my lede was: "If the current state of romantic comedy films could be summed up by a self-help book, here's a suggested title: 'We're Just Not That Into You Anymore.' "

Writer Ian Johns' lede: "If the current state of romantic comedy films could be summed up by a self-help book, a suggested title might be: We're Just Not Connecting Any More."

Later, I wrote, "...audiences and romantic comedies are going through a bad patch, and it'll take more than a pint of Haagen-Dazs and a crying jag to forget ...”Must Love Dogs” (John Cusack is neutered by Diane Lane)…"

Mr. Johns: "It'll take more than a pint of Haagen-Dazs to forget the joylessness of Must Love Dogs (John Cusack neuters Diane Lane) and Failure to Launch (Sarah Jessica Parker nudges slacker Matthew McConaughey from his parents’ home)."

There are other similarities in tone and word usage. Simply lifting a quote from the industry analyst I used in my piece and attributing that as "...told the Daily News…" is insufficient. (Per Mr. Johns' piece: 'According to Robert Bucksbaum, of the US box-office tracking firm Exhibitor Relations, romantic comedies have gone off-track. As he told the New York Daily News recently: "The genre’s hokey now, which is why a film like The 40-Year-Old Virgin felt new. It was a movie made for men that women also wanted to see. That may be the way of the future: unless these films have got another attraction, they’re going to be a tough sell.')

I expect an explanation, and expected more from the Times of London.

Joe Neumaier
Sunday Features Editor/Feature Film Writer
New York Daily News

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