"[8] At the same time, the response by the Cooks Source editor "may well become a digital textbook example of how not to respond to grievances in the internet age.
[11] As reported by Dan Crowley of the local Daily Hampshire Gazette, Cooks Source was founded in 1997 by Judith D. Griggs, a former town planner[12][13] and conservation agent,[14][15] who had previously been art director and editor of several small magazines.
Griggs, who was 59 years old at the time of the incident, hand-delivered the monthly publication with her adult daughter along a 2,000-mile distribution route to locations in western New England, including Massachusetts, Connecticut, Vermont, and some of New Hampshire.
[16] Griggs rose to internet notoriety on November 4, 2010, after it became known that an article published on page 10 in the October 2010 Cooks Source issue infringed on the copyright of Monica Gaudio, the piece's author.
[20] The ensuing response by Griggs "has become the stuff of internet legend,"[21] and said in part: But honestly Monica, the web is considered 'public domain' and you should be happy we just didn't 'lift' your whole article and put someone else's name on it!
[29] Several parodic Twitter accounts and a bogus Facebook page titled Cooks Source Mag were created on November 5, containing additional inflammatory statements purportedly by the magazine staff.
[30][31] It also inspired editorials by Robert X. Cringely[32] and John Birmingham,[33] Downfall parodies,[34][35] a tribute song,[36] and a satirical proposed apology composed entirely of unattributed famous quotations.
[42] NPR pop culture writer/host Linda Holmes characterized the statement as "a very strange semi-apology", adding, "It actually sounds a lot like the e-mail Gaudio got in the first place: defiant, sure of its correctness, and, in the end, kind of baffling.
The incident prompted editorials from a range of journalists including Melissa Block of NPR's All Things Considered,[53] Zachary Hunchar of Technorati,[54] and CNN's Eatocracy.
[55] Journalist Ivor Tossell opined that this may be the first major Facebook-based internet vigilantism where many participants used their real names instead of remaining anonymous.
[57] One author compared the incident to the 2008 sourcing dispute that led to the demise of The Bulletin, a small Texas alternative weekly.
"[59] The NPR program On the Media discussed the episode as an example of how quickly and severely anger can spread on the Internet, noting that the episode had made the phrase "but honestly, Monica" into an internet meme and had spawned the verb "to Griggs", defined as "to use content on the Web without permission, then request payment from the original author for rewrites and editing.
[61] Joseph P. Kahn used the Cooks Source incident to illustrate how senders should have no expectation of privacy once something is electronically transmitted to a recipient, especially if it is potentially controversial or embarrassing.
[62] After Gaudio posted Griggs' email, online investigators created a Google Spreadsheet and compiled almost 170 instances where Cooks Source appeared to have lifted copyrighted material, including text and images, from other sources, "including NPR, Hallmark and the website of Food Network personality Paula Deen.