Menifee 24/7 Prevails in Lawsuit Protecting its Content

Menifee 24/7 was awarded a court judgment against local newspaper Menifee Buzz and its owner, Yanik Gozlan, for unauthorized use of Menifee 24/7-owned photos as well as unfair business practices.

Hemet Small Claims Court Commissioner Kathleen Jacobs ruled in Menifee 24/7’s favor this week, ordering Gozlan to pay Menifee 24/7 owners Doug and Kristen Spoon $750 for unauthorized use of Internet content, plus $75 court costs. The court also found in favor of Menifee 24/7 in a countersuit filed by Gozlan, who alleged slander and unfair business practices.

The Spoons’ lawsuit alleged that Gozlan and/or his staff members published, in the Menifee Buzz print product and websites, photos for three news articles that are the property of Menifee 24/7. Permission to use the photos was not given by Menifee 24/7 and no credit to this website was given in Menifee Buzz.

The Spoons attempted to settle the matter out of court without success. Gozlan removed the photos in question from his online publications but refused to acknowledge unauthorized use of the copyrighted material.

Menifee 24/7 Editor Doug Spoon said he was pleased with the outcome of the court case and considers the preservation of Internet ownership rights more important than the financial compensation.

“From the beginning, we just wanted a public acknowledgment by Mr. Gozlan of wrongdoing on his part,” said Spoon, a 37-year journalist who also teaches media law in a news reporting class at Cal Poly Pomona. “The platform on which journalism is delivered has changed greatly, but the ethics have not. We pride ourselves on doing our own work and we stand behind what we do.

“We do not mean to cause harm to another local business, but neither will we allow another local business to do harm to us. We believe we provide a valuable service to Menifee residents free of charge, but at the same time we are a business that relies on advertising revenue and credibility with our readers. These were not photos a Facebook user linked to from another source, where credit usually is given. These were photos for a news publication from which we make our living."

Menifee 24/7 will celebrate 11 years of service as an online news source this fall – the last three of those years with Doug Spoon as editor.