Abuse of originality or is it plagiarism

1. 52

   Joelamposted 9 years ago

   I work as a writer for various companies but when am overwhelmed with work i subcontract some writers to write on my behalf. One of those writers has decided to publish some of the jobs i gave him on this site making some of assignment to be rejected with plagiarism. is it right?

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   1. 91

      Susana Sposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      If you're buying articles from your subcontractor then you own the copyright. They give up any rights to use the articles once you've paid for them.
      
      I would file DMCA take down notices with Hubpages if they are posted here.
      
      http://hubpages.com/email/help/violation/trademark
      
      Make sure you use the recognised legal terminology. See link below:
      
      http://www.ipwatchdog.com/2009/07/06/sa … r/id=4501/

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      1. 52

         Joelamposted 9 years agoin reply to this

         This is so insightful, many thanks.

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         1. 91

            Susana Sposted 9 years agoin reply to this

            This only works if you've actually paid the subcontractor and not sold them onto the original contractor.
            
            If you've sold them to the original contractor, then they own the copyright and they would have to do the DMCA.

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      2. 84

         psycheskinnerposted 9 years agoin reply to this

         Only if that is what the subcontractor agreed to.  Copyright stays with the creator unless a signed contract or mutual agreement removes it. In this case neither seems to apply.
         
         The reason this mutual agreement is required is that purchase of copyright is billed much higher than non-exclusive publishing rights.  Your subcontractor needs to know exactly what rights you are buying in order to know whether to agree to the pay rate. And buying copyright is in fact not the norm at least in my field--end users tend to buy exclusive digital rights for a period of time.

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         1. 91

            Susana Sposted 9 years agoin reply to this

            Not sure how to reply really, but when I've written web content for someone else the content becomes theirs when they pay me for it. That is the norm when you get work through freelance job sites. I've never signed a contract. It has been a long while since I worked for anyone else, but I don't think things have changed in the last few years.
            
            The only exception to this that I've seen is on Constant Content where the writer does specify the usage rights that the client is buying. I'm sure it's the same for other types of writing work where the writer is in control of the sale.

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   2. 84

      psycheskinnerposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      The end user's contract with you should permit subcontracting, and your contract with with the subcontractor should specify if you are buying exclusive rights.  If you solicited help without contract you have no say over what they do with their work.

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2. 79

   LeanManposted 9 years ago

   Your customer is paying for a unique piece of work for their own use. By publishing the article before the customer has had a chance to accept it the customer will now see it as a copy - which it effectively now is.
   
   When someone pays you to write for them the copy becomes theirs and you or anyone else should not be publishing it anywhere.
   
   So your customer will not be paying you and I hope that in turn you will not be paying the person you have subcontracted the work to.

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3. 68

   PaigSrposted 9 years ago

   I am not sure if this is something you do, but here goes. If you are going to subcontract explain to those that will be helping you that what they are doing is for the customer only. Not for them to publish on their own sites.
   
   If need be do up a contract that you both sign and notarize that has this listed as part of that contract.
   
   Not sure about this one but on their own site they maybe able to list the site as one they helped create. This would be the customers as well as your call as the original contractor. If so you may wish to require to proof read what they will publish about their work.
   
   Again its all about the customer and what they approve.
   
   It's sort of like this site and anything you publish. Do you want others to copy your material and use it without permission?

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4. 60

   LindaSmith1posted 9 years ago

   I wrote for a site that had clients. We had to sign a contract that stated , our work, that we got paid for, belonged to the client and we could not use those articles in any way, shape or form.
   
   However, when you overload yourself, and allow some stranger to do your work for you, and those articles end up online somewhere, all I can say is that you took a big gamble and lost. 
   
   In fact, there may be a condition by the company that you are dealing with that says you cannot contract out the work that they  are paying you to do!

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