Forum Moderators: not2easy
I recently wrote an article for an ebook. To keep the price down, the client asked me to simply recycle content already at my website. I did, though I geared the content to a particular niche. At least 80% of the content for the article was cut and pasted from my site and basically reorganized. I kept the copyright to the article.
I now placed a similar article at my site (as I always intended to do so anyway, just never got around to it).
I know the client wouldn't want the specific article/ebook I wrote for them posted at my or any other site as it would negate the value they assigned to it. However the article at my site, while containing a lot of the same info, is in a different format (web pages vs. ebook) and a portion of the content has been deleted because words are hyperlinked to related info that I wrote into his article (eg. a glossary).
SO....
- He has his ebook article;
- I have a similar article posted at my site;
- The topic is such that I could very well be asked to write something similar for another organization.
Is all this okay?
thanks!
Did he pay you an amount with the understanding that you would not sell that same article to a competetor, or something like that? In other words, were there any restrictions or stipulations attached to the price?
If he merely paid for the right to publish some of *your* copyrighted work, then no, you are not obligated to refrain from publishing the work (that *you* own the copyright to) somewhere else, or letting someone else publish it. He only paid you for the honor of publishing it himself. He has no control over what else you do with the work. He doesn't own it. You do.
I'll repeat, I'm not a lawyer, I have no special insights into copyright law, but this is how I understand it to be.
And generally speaking, you usually retain the right to write similar pieces for other publications/companies.
For instance, freelancers will often do research for an article, write the piece, sell it, then 're-slant' it as many times as possible in order to make the most of it (profit-wise). This is actually what allows a lot of freelancer writers (including myself!) to make a semi-decent living.
...the client asked me to simply recycle content already at my website. I did...
Then any articles based on similar themes, containing similar content is quite acceptable. As you say, the copyright is yours and I'm presuming that there are no exclusivity clauses involved.
However, if I were to commission an article from any writer and found that the text was merely an obvious rehash of a previous work, I'd not be happy. In fact, I'd probably find someone else in the same field and give the job to them, but hey, that's me..;-)
Syzygy
However, if I were to commission an article from any writer and found that the text was merely an obvious rehash of a previous work, I'd not be happy. In fact, I'd probably find someone else in the same field and give the job to them, but hey, that's me..;-)
I'm an honorable person. All I'm trying to do if find out my rights as well as those of my client. I would never do anything to hinder what they want to do with my article. And I'm well-pleased with what they are doing with it. Full copyright credit is given to me in the article, including tons of links to my site.
All I'm asking is what I can ethically do with similar info if placed at my site and if someone else asks me to write a similar article.
Hey, what free lancer would ever write for anyone if doing so would preclude them from ever writing about a similar, or the same, topic for someone else. I know I would NOT!
