Freelance Writers

Can they get you in trouble?

[jpell]

I have a message on my site welcoming anyone who can write good, informative articles to send them to me and I'll add their name, picture, etc. to the article giving them full credit. I was contacted by a freelance writer who wanted to contribute her articles. GREAT! Free original content! However, she also writes articles for another website, a much bigger one than mine. She offered to foreward her latest article to me if I wanted it. My question is, if I display it, is having the authors name on it enough to protect me from copyright infringement in the event that the same article was also written for this other company? I don't know if she is planning to submit duplicate articles to both of our sites, (mine and the other she writes for), I'm just looking at scenarios. Considering she authored the article, I guess by default by her giving it to me to publish it then I have her permission as the author. However if the other company (I'm not incorperated) PAYS her for her articles, can they claim ownership and then get me for copyright infringement?
Thanks,
JPell

[ccDan]

It depends upon the rights the author sold to the other site.

What you need to get is a writer's agreement (find a lawyer or search the web for examples), and that will give you protection in the event the writer sells or gives you rights they do not have.

But, just because the writer's work appears on the other site does not necessarily mean they have lost the rights to it. They may have sold only first rights or non-exclusive rights, etc.

Unless a writer sells all of their rights, they are free to market their works elsewhere, subject to the agreement(s) they've signed with sites they've sold to.

So, you need more than just their name appearing with the article, you need an agreement to protect yourself against any claims arising from your use of their work.

[rogerd]

ccDan's advice is good, jpell. I'd probably add a disclaimer in your TOS and a well-identified DMCA violation reporting procedure as well. What you want to do is demonstrate your good intentions so that if someone feels you have published content they own they'll contact you first before contacting your host, ISP, search engines, and/or their lawyers.

[Marshall]

If the person or company for whom an article was originally written has a contract that states the buyer acquires all writes, something that is pretty standard, then technically, a writer cannot resell or give away a work without violating his/her contract. It then becomes a burden of proof. The fact that an article appears on your site and it matches what appears on another, is prima facia evidence that you used it without permission of the actual copyright owner, regardless what credit you gave. You would want a release from both the author and the copyright owner to use the material just to be safe.

If the person emails you the article, print it out with all the headers. This will at least provide you with some evidence that you did not steal it.