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What can you do to prevent such stuff occurring again?
Nick
Whip him senseless with a knotted rope?
LOL
I can see PubCon gonna be fun ;0
but a legal binding thing would be to just print it and find a notary.
This is true. I'm just lazy. :)
could prove embarrassing enough... if anyone ever sees it.
of course.. my solution doesn't get you the money you deserve.
But it is only $30 to register an article, website etc with the US copyright office, and the UK must have something similar. Worth the $30 expense if you are concerned, and probably cheaper than going the notary route. You can get all the information online if you ever want to register one.
That said content that is "vaguely" similar is a lot harder to prove in court.
There have also been discussions on this subject in the content and copyright forum as well.
The mailing it to yourself thing won't stand up in court
Off I shuffle with a pile of envelopes... ;)
The laws may be different in the US of course, but I'd be amazed if the "poor man's copyright" procedure could be made to stand up in a British court.
It also says "You must register your copyright with the U.S. Copyright Office before you are legally permitted to bring a lawsuit to enforce it." So you could send a C&D to an infringer, but to bring about a lawsuit in the US, it must be registered to do so.
And just so I am not confusing anyone, your work is copyrighted as soon as you write it, but it is when you need to enforce it that it becomes trickier if it is not registered. For online infringement, archive.org is a valuable resource to prove your work was published online by a certain date.
Did this guy actually verbally commit to publishing something or did he just really smooth talk you with sugary compliments into helping him out? if the second then its called charm and sorry you lost mate:-) if the first then "the word" it turns out may not where some people are concerned be their bond after all.
Well politicians & the media .. I only have to mention Hatten .... trust? both these types of folks dont have great repute here.
I was going through painful negotiations some time ago and took any confidential calls on my carphone (for the ostensible reason to be out of earshot of the offices) the real reason was that next to the carphone speaker my tape recorder could take down the evidence just in case we were in the end stitched up :-)
Just a note to say "dont be too trusting" there are wonkers out there in all suits and sizes.
It's quite common for submissions to be re-written or used as a source for another article as long as you GET PAID. Sure, always lovely to get the by-line but that's life.
Wouldn't make too much of a fuss over it if you (a) did get paid (b) you are willing to do more work for the magazine 'cos you did get paid (c) depending on the publication, word could get out your nothing but trouble when it comes to submissions.
none planned, not for something minor
>>dont be too trusting
more cynical by the day :)
>>Did you get paid
No, it was just for the hell of it really.
as such UK copyright law is sufficient to protect him from a UK transgressor and here he does not have to register his work anywhere for our copyright legislation to have effect.
He does have to be able to present reasonable evidence that he did produce the work at the time he said he did which is where the letter posted back has some value but equally publishing it on the web would be also of some value as will the creation date of the files and record of the emails sent about the article and text contained.
However it is apparently an article .. and he hints that what was written appeared to be * derived from * his work not a direct copy. It becomes much harder then .. as its not a direct copy and direct copyright issue ... he was certainly misled if what he says is true ..
There are an awful lot of websites out where significant elements have been derived from the original or otherwise work of others .. when is something original and when is it a derivation of generic or general public knowledge?
If they don't pay, make a claim in a small claims court.
Or, better still, issue a winding-up order (or your nation's equivalent) against them. The really does get a company's attention -- and it's dirt cheap to do, at least where I am.
I mean there are rather a lot of worse things that the mag could have done to him! which almost never result in these things .....
Perhaps you are a lawyer looking to up you work rate :-) then it might make sense :-)
wind up order
So, do you go around to their office and wind them up? :)
No, seriously, what is a wind up order?
Its not therefore the same as a chapter 11 in the US which afaikt where the company itself tries to prevent people it owes money to from making a winding up order to close them down because the management of the company feels the situation is retrievable.
Google it if you really want to know.
They are fast effective, and cheap.
rewriting is normal but you could ask them to mention your name in a rectification
but I wonder ...
Sometimes I have worked with a few clients that are slow paying but regular rebuying customers .... ie lifetime value is high ... payment promptness is not .. but payment does come ...
How many rebuys do you get from people you did the wind up to :-)
I would guess if it was always going to be a transaction rather than the start or part way into a longer term relationship then its a fine way to go ...
And we should always be picking customers who do pay their bills :-) thats certainly true ...
How many rebuys do you get from people you did the wind up to :-)
Absolutely none whatsoever. It's a neat way to end an abusive relationship :)
no .. perhaps better if I dont actually cause it means I will have started an abusive relationshiop .... but you know what I mean :-)
Your Friendly Neighborhood Lawman
class :)
