Real-life MMD: Should I share holiday disaster news story money?

marich

A big vote of thanks to Augustus the Strong who hit this and many other nails straight on the head...

So it was six years ago - big news story !
It was a disaster holiday - can't wait to hear !
Your friend is a journalist and will pay you money - wow !

He must be a desperate reporter if he has to get six-year old disaster holiday stories from a pal to fill his editor's pages with . And this makes your big day - a chance of money .

Quite how much do you think this is worth ? Can you get away with it all for yourself - yeah , sure , just go ahead and see what happens - we all need to learn life's lessons the hard way if we are going to remember them later on . Money is cheap , experience costs you more than that !

Go on - it's all yours if you want it . Take the money and run .

babushkava

If these dilemmas are real, week after week, then I feel very sad that there seems to be a raft of people who do not know how to Do The Right Thing by their relatives, friends or colleagues.
The Right Thing is summed up in a lovely expression that I heard whilst living in Yorkshire many years ago, it's

Do as you would be done to.

I have also heard it elsewhere as ...

Do as you would be done by.

So, when searching your conscience and before asking anyone else for guidance, think how it would be if the boot were on the other foot. How would you like to be treated? Then the right and fair way to act will be clear to you.

Talent

Just go ahead and do it. Too many worriers....

pennypinchUK

Pretty tame this week, Martin.

As is so often the case with these "dilemmas", why not 'do as you would wish to be done by yourself'? You clearly feel guilty, as you're claiming this is a dilemma, but you don't feel so guilty that you're compelled to share all your gains. So make a gesture and share some of the gains.

oldtrout

The MMDs are pretty tame every week to be honest!

I am convinced these dilemmas are all made up, completely fictional. We never get any feedback on whether they took anyone's advice, what the 'OP' did, whether the situation was resolved, etc.

I'm still trying to work out why MSE does this every week ...

shebangsthedrums

I think you need to speak to your friends first. You haven't said on here what made the holiday a disaster. When I first read your post I assumed bad hotel, or an accident or something. On further thought it could have been anything - which could potentially paint one of your friends in a bad light. They might not want whatever it was sharing with the world, and more importantly might not want their photos splashing all over a magazine or the internet, regardless of how much money you might make or share with them. I know previous posters have mentioned copyright laws, but surely just plain old respect for your friends feelings comes over and above any legal jargon?
In my humble opinion, however much the money may be, it's not worth the potential trouble it would cause without getting full consent from your friends first to publicise something that happened to all of you. Maybe, rather than wonder whether you should give them some of the money you get, you should be asking if they want to sell the story as a group in the first place. Only then should you be asking if they don't want to, would they mind if you did it alone.

JayD

You all went on the holiday - you all shared a disaster. So, you are doing a bit of legwork - well they took the pictures, without which the story would probably not sell anyway.
I think you should be a real friend and take the bad taste out of that experience by sharing the money equally.

gloriouslyhappy

[QUOTE=
Three friends and I had a holiday disaster about six years ago. A journalist friend of mine is now paying me to use the experience for a story. I'm doing all the legwork for it, but I'm using the photos my friends took. As I'm doing all the work and they would never have bothered to sell it, should I keep the money, share all or part of it or make a small contribution towards our next holiday?][/QUOTE]

Have a word with your friends, whose photos they are. Only when you've done that can you decide the best course of action. Unless you're trying to 'get permission' from this forum to bypass the legal owners of the photos, in which case, judging by most of the responses, it's not working.

jbworldwide

If you take the money all for yourself and I was your friend who was there with you,you wouldn't be my friend anymore. Friends work together and should also go through the rough and the smooth together.

Now I know for a fact if I was in your position and said I am going to get x amount of money but I have had to do this and that to get it , so I'll give you a percentage then I know the very vast majority (i.e. non-greedy ones) would be very happy, as long as I was clearly not being greedy.

I agree with a lot of what is written above, this seems like a "can i get justification to shaft my "friends'?" in short... no, there is none.

Kite2010

A reporter is going to pay you for a horror holiday story from 6 years ago?

Massive exclusive for that reporter, "6 years ago I had a horrible holiday due to these reasons" which probably don't exist now.