'Best Of' partner defends copyright

LACONIA — Many local business owners got good news recently when they were named winners of the Best Of the Lakes Region contest, held this spring by the Laconia Daily Sun with help from Nerus Strategies. Then, at least one of those winners got some bad news in the form of a phone call from someone who turned out to be representing the company That's Great News, a Connecticut-based operation that has built a reputation for aggressive sales tactics and flouting copyright laws.

That's what Ginny Sanborn, of Sanborn's Auto Repair, found. She was first contacted by someone from That's Great News on Thursday.

"It started with a phone call at first. He didn't really say who he was," Sanborn said. She was having a hard time understanding him, but she heard him ask for her email address. "His English wasn't the best, the connection wasn't the best, I gave him the email address just to get rid of him."

On Friday, the first email arrived, with an image of a plaque the company wanted to sell her. Since then, Sanborn has received two more emails, including one offering to send it to her for a free 30-day trial. The email included an example of the plaque, showing the cover of the Best Of the Lakes Region magazine, published by the Laconia Daily Sun, and the entry for Sanborn's that was printed in the magazine. All of which was copied directly from the magazine.

"They are in blatant copyright infringement with the materials," said Bill Cummings, who founded Nerus. His company helps newspapers to facilitate Best Of contests around the country. He said he has run into That's Great News in previous contests, so he already had a cease and desist letter ready to go, and was preparing on Monday to file a complaint with Attorney General of Connecticut, the state where That's Great News is located.

"Protecting intellectual property is paramount," Cummings said. Beyond that, he said what That's Great News offers are poor value for the business owners. The plaque offer that is filling up Sanborn's inbox costs $199; Sanborn could buy a legitimate plaque from www.bestofthelakesregion.com for $89.

"There is official merchandise for the Best of the Lakes Region that is sanctioned, and is half the price that they charge," Cummings said. "Not only are they defrauding the consumer, they're charging 200 to 300 bucks for stuff that doesn't need to be 200 to 300 bucks."

Complaints published on the Better Business Bureau's website, www.bbb.org, show that That's Great News has a pattern of stealing copyrighted materials to design plaques, then hounding businesses with incessant phone calls.

Cummings asked that any local business owners  solicited by That's Great News notify him by sending an email to badnews@bestofthelakesregion.com. He said that although his company manages the behind-the-scenes operations of the contest, no one from Nerus will be reaching out to local businesses with sales pitches.

"The only people that will be soliciting will be folks they know from the Laconia Daily Sun," he said.

Karin Nelson, office manager, said she hadn't heard of other businesses contacted by That's Great News. "We would encourage people who have been contacted by that company to be cautious," she said.