Bloggers’ rights

Arianna HuffingtonA rianna Huffington and Kenneth Lerer, cofounders of Huffington Post, sold the popular American website to Internet services and media company, AOL, in March for US $315 million, prompting a group of bloggers to file a $105-million lawsuit against Huffington Post and AOL.

The suit is led by Jonathan Tasini, a writer and labour activist, who has contributed 216 articles to the website. Around 9,000 people wrote for the Huffington Post without pay; they argue that their writings added value to the website, which lawyers estimate, is at least one-third the sale price. People who create content have to be compensated, emphasised Tasini.

Huffington said, “There's got to be a distinction between everybody who works for a media company and everybody who blogs for a media company,” adding that all media agencies depend on unpaid contributions. Huffington Post declared the lawsuit “baseless” as the bloggers use the website to promote their work and share their ideas.