To our readers and supporters,
The AIMN exists because of you. No matter how tough things get, we will always be here.
Lately, though, we have been under real financial pressure for two main reasons.
1. Our advertising income has stalled.
The revenue we receive from ads and regular donations usually allows the site to break even. We don’t aim to make a profit – our goal is to make a difference. At the same time, we want readers to enjoy visiting The AIMN. We recognise that the intrusive ads we used to run detracted from that experience. It was a classic Catch-22: the ads were annoying, yet essential for keeping the site going.
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We have incurred a substantial (and potentially crippling) debt over alleged copyright infringements (screenshots of photos). We were unaware of the issues at the time, but that does not change the outcome. The bottom line is that we owe them a large sum of money that we simply do not have.
Some readers who became aware of our situation have already responded with generosity. We owe it to them – and to everyone who supports us – to keep fighting.
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Copyright deserves respect, and photographers deserve payment. But proportionality matters too.
If the circumstances are as described, pursuing a claim that could financially cripple a small publisher over photo screenshots strikes me as heavy-handed. A media corporation with News Corp’s resources should be capable of seeking a fair resolution that reflects the harm caused and the publisher’s ability to pay.
Having the legal muscle to demand payment does not put the way that power is exercised beyond criticism.
What efforts were made to resolve this through a reasonable settlement before the consequences became potentially crippling?
Hi, Denis. I was guilty of doing what I’ve often seen others do and assumed it was OK: taking screenshots of YouTube videos.
My old lieutenant was right when he said to “Never assume anything as you make an ASS out of U and ME.”
I consulted a government subsidised legal firm that specialised in these matters, who – after much consultation – came to the decision that my only immediate course of action was to make an offer. I haggled, and had the debt reduced marginally, but still excessive.
@ Michael Taylor: Uhm ….. Did you ask Carol about that glorious title in the header pic??
I agree Denis but News Corp are not reasonable or fair minded, they are predatory monopolist bullies – fucked in the head. We don’t read their crap, we boycott them and we will fight them in social media till their empire cracks. Australians by and large do not respect News Corp and Murdoch family empire any less than Trump, Musk, Bezos, Thiel, Zuckerberg et al, Gina included.
Need to handshake with our region and Europe, not America. Alas Aussies are slow to connect the dots with the corporate crumbs that we’re bribed with and fed from the mutant pig headed bellicose table of the Board of America.
At least you got rid of that horrible banner Ad that appeared on every article. I was very close to unsubscribing because of that. I can put up with advertising as long as its not in your face stuff.
David, we didn’t put that there and we can’t/didn’t take it away.
Oooops. Oh dear, they’re coming to get AIMN before AI swamps every copyright & attribution everywhere. Typical Newscorpse, the greedy act of cowards.
How does Bluesky get away with it when folks post a similarly snatched jpeg?
Could / would Getup do anything for AIMN?
The weird thing, Clakka, it wasn’t due to any pictures used on The AIMN… they were pictures used on The AIMN’s Facebook page (which is us anyway).
Oh, riiight, Michael,
All a tad internecine. It’s why I don’t use anything Meta, Google (Alphabet) or Microsoft – a devious club if ever there was one.
FYI, I note P&I use an attribution pop-up when one just runs the mouse arrow over their pictures. I don’t know whether or how difficult it is to include this feature in any picture’s metadata.
Apologies, I know this is all ‘after the fact’.
A little bit of Murdochracy ”news” that may brighten your day.
Judge rules against Murdoch’s Fox News.
https://www.npr.org/2026/09/20/nx-s1-5974900/fox-shareholders-murdoch-lawsuit
Carol and I would like to thank our wonderful readers for their response. We’re almost there. It means a lot to us, that we mean a lot to you.