Condo association denies plagiarism, says MCO history ‘not copyrighted’

October 26, 2012 – Despite word-for-word duplication of two paragraphs from Marina City Online’s comprehensive history of Marina City to a 32-page soft-cover book recently published by Marina Towers Condominium Association, the condo association at Marina City denied wrongdoing late last week, claiming “MCO has not copyrighted” any of its text.

In a letter dated October 19 to MCO editor Steven Dahlman, MTCA attorney Daniel Meyer did not elaborate on why he believed the 75,000-word 500-image history of Marina City was not copyrighted. According to the U.S. Copyright Office, the work, first published in 2007, would have been under copyright protection “the moment it is created and fixed in a tangible form that it is perceptible either directly or with the aid of a machine or device.”

Registration of the work, according to the copyright office, is voluntary and since 1989, not even the copyright symbol is required in order to receive protection in the United States.

In two articles published in mid-October, MCO accused MTCA of plagiarism for copying the text without attribution, but did not accuse the condo association of copyright infringement, as its book was likely published for non-profit educational purposes and therefore “fair use” of the material.

Meyer (left) also denied there was any wrongdoing when the condo association borrowed several images from Marina City Online, claiming MTCA “requested, obtained, and paid for reproduction rights from the appropriate copyright holders.”

The claim seemed far-fetched, given that some of the images were nine frames from movies, captured at the exact moments in the films that are depicted in MCO’s versions. Other images were prints from private collections, shared only with Marina City Online, which were then scanned and digitally restored.

Marina Towers Condominium Association, Marina City Online

(Above) At left are nine frames from movies filmed at or near Marina City plus one Chicago Sun Times news photo. (Click on image to view larger version.) All of these images were most likely obtained from Marina City Online.

For example, at far right is Marina City Online’s account of one of the films. The frames were captured from the 1964 film Goldstein. Although Marina Towers Condominium Association, through its attorney, denies it, it appears they have utilized the exact frames (the four frames in the middle of this image toward the top) as MCO has, in the exact order.

The MTCA attorney asked for understanding, given the condo association’s book appears to have been produced mainly by people without any publishing experience. “We respectfully suggest,” offers Meyer, “that you have misunderstood the purpose and scope of the book, and have imposed upon volunteers a standard of journalistic principle that simply has no place in a discussion about a work that was never intended as a journalistic magnum opus, or even as a commercial endeavor.”

Intended to promote Marina City’s 50-year anniversary as a residence, the book contains recent images by professional photographer Cesar Russ as well as factual errors.