How do I stop the editors from editing my hub?

1. 67

   OldRosesposted 3 years ago

   There has been a note on my best performing hub for weeks saying it was going to be edited.  I wrote the team multiple times begging them not to touch it.  They ignored my requests and are in the process of editing it right now.
   
   How do I stop this?  I do not want this hub "edited".  Every time they edit one of my hubs they turn it into an amateur garden blog entry full of wrong information.  It's disgusting and uncalled for.  All of my hubs are carefully researched.
   
   I TEACH gardening for God's sake.  I know what I'm talking about.  The editors do not.
   
   What right do they have to touch my work?  It's copyrighted.  I own the copyright.  They are breaking the law.  Do I have to sue to keep their incompetent hands off of my work?
   
   How do I stop this travesty?

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   1. 83

      bravewarriorposted 3 years agoin reply to this

      You can choose to return the article(s) to the original state. Hopefully, you keep a copy of the copy in Word or some other format outside of the HP templates. If so, you can always restore them to their original state.
      
      View your HP edited articles in "Author's View" via My Account. That's where you can undo what they change that doesn't agree with you.

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      1. 67

         OldRosesposted 3 years agoin reply to this

         They have locked my hub.  I have to wait until they have finished destroying it before I can revert the changes.  Of course I have a copy.  I have copies of all of my hubs. 
         
         I'm furious because they have no legal right to touch my copyrighted material especially because I have notified them multiple times that I didn't want my hub edited.

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         1. 83

            bravewarriorposted 3 years agoin reply to this

            OldRoses, I seem to remember a while back when random editing became the norm (during the Maven/HP merge, now that I think about it) that we could opt out of HP editors touching our work. I'm not sure where that would be found now. Perhaps another writer can chime in and enlighten us.

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            1. 67

               OldRosesposted 3 years agoin reply to this

               I don't think that's true because I have been trying to prevent these edits for weeks. 
               
               I talked to a friend who is a lawyer and he says that legally they cannot change our copyrighted hubs, especially if we ask them not to.  If they do, they are subject to heavy fines and jail time.
               
               I've spent the past few hours bombarding them with email demanding that they cease and desist.  I will keep it up all night if I have to.

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               1. 83

                  bravewarriorposted 3 years agoin reply to this

                  Yeah, we did have the option to opt out of edits a while back.
                  Nevertheless, keep on fighting for your rights, OldRoses, although you shouldn't have to for the very reasons you've stated in this post.

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   2. STAFF

      HubPagesposted 3 years agoin reply to this

      Hello,
      
      We certainly appreciate your patience in contacting us regarding your questions/concerns—our editing and moderation teams handle large volumes of content and requests on a daily basis. We reviewed the mentioned article and closed out the planned edit accordingly. I also updated your account to highlight your preferences moving forward. If you have any additional questions regarding the use of the platform and editing services, you can, once again, contact team@hubpages.com and I would be happy to connect with you directly.
      
      Best,
      
      Tessa

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      1. 67

         OldRosesposted 3 years agoin reply to this

         Thanks Tessa for your prompt response.

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      2. 84

         Solarasposted 3 years agoin reply to this

         Well done Tessa, good on you.

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2. 92

   Dolores Monetposted 3 years ago

   I feel for you, Old Roses. For the most part I've been happy with the edits. But there have been a few very weird ones - like taking down one of my images of a plant and replacing it with the wrong plant. Like inserting a blurry image at the top of an article. Like changing factual information to made up rubbish.
   
   I think there are some editors who are wonderful and a few stinkers in there who have no clue what they are doing. I complained but they ignored me. I just changed the wrong wording back, reinserted the correct image for the plant, etc. Though one left a threatening email saying that if I made changes to their changes they'd dump the article.
   
   I didn't know they could lock you out of your work.

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   1. 67

      OldRosesposted 3 years agoin reply to this

      Exactly!  The same things have happened to me.  I thought I had an agreement with the editors not to touch my hubs because they know nothing about horticulture.
      
      Must be new editors.  If they won't listen to me, maybe they will listen to a judge.  I won't hesitate to sue them if they violate my copyright with their "edits."

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3. 77

   psycheskinnerposted 3 years ago

   I would not make any assumptions about the law and copyright without reading the full Hubpages terms of use.  Nor should a lawyer.
   
   "You grant Maven a perpetual, irrevocable, nonexclusive, royalty-free, worldwide, fully paid, and sublicensable license to use, reproduce, *modify*, adapt, publish, translate, create derivative works from, distribute, publicly perform and display your User Content and any name, username or likeness provided in connection with your User Content for any purpose and in all media formats and channels now known or later developed without compensation to you for any purpose."

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   1. 67

      OldRosesposted 3 years agoin reply to this

      Two attorneys looked at the terms of use as well as the results of the edits that had been done previously on my work.  "Modify" is different from "substantially change" which is what they did. 
      
      The editors eliminated the photos I used and substituted photos of completely different plants which were not the plants that I was writing about just because they were prettier pictures.  They deleted my science backed advice and inserted advice that was popular, but very wrong, from amateur gardening blogs.  Then when the editors had finished completely screwing up my articles with bad information and wrong photos, they published them with MY NAME on it. 
      
      Those articles were no longer my work.  They were the work of lay people who know nothing about gardening and horticulture.  I don't want my name on their error filled articles.
      
      There was no modification.  They were writing articles and attaching my name to them, potentially ruining my reputation and the reputation of the university where I teach.  Highly illegal.
      
      The editors should stick to grammar and punctuation.  That is what they are good at.  I don't correct them on grammar and punctuation so they shouldn't correct me on horticulture and gardening.

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4. 97

   Rupert Taylorposted 3 years ago

   That sounds terrible. I've had a few minor quibbles with changes in the past and simply changed them back to my original. Nobody seemed to notice. But your issues seem far more profound. It's like I'm writing about rutabagas and someone substitutes a picture of a carrot.
   
   I would suggest deleting the article, wait a few days so it's unindexed to avoid duplicate content issues, and then resubmit your original.

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   1. 67

      OldRosesposted 3 years agoin reply to this

      If you read Tessa's post above, the issue has been resolved.  She also contacted me via email.  My hub has been unlocked and no major changes were made.
      
      I am a happy Hubber once more.

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5. 97

   Rupert Taylorposted 3 years ago

   Good for you Old Roses. Happy to hear the issue was resolved in your favour.

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6. 85

   GwennyOhposted 3 years ago

   I'd be furious too. I am not glad you have had to experience this on an ongoing basis, but am glad I read that it comes up and what the result of their editing process is. This as they have edited a few of mine and I have assumed they were editing for preferred grammar usage. I haven't looked at their handiwork. Ugh... I may have to rewrite them or pull them and post them on my blog--rewritten.

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7. 97

   PaulGoodman67posted 3 years ago

   I have generally been very pleased with the editors when it comes to improving spelling, grammar, and also with improving SEO factors to increase traffic. Some of my articles have received massive boosts this way and for that I'm grateful.
   
   The only real problems I've had relate to content. Some editors have inserted information, or changed text and the updated version is factually incorrect, or they've used incorrect terminology. While everybody can make mistakes, including me, it is embarrassing when a very obvious and amateurish factual mistake is made that appears in the public domain in an article in your name, but was in fact written by an editor. Sometimes I don't doublecheck changes and they aren't discovered until pointed out in the comments section by a reader. It's happened to me maybe a handful of times but is always upsetting.
   
   The quality of the content is a tough thing to manage and police, and a big reason why there is co much "fake news" that floats around the internet generally. Machines are pretty useless in this area, so humans have to be used, but they are fallible. In an ideal world, I would prefer to let the editors just get on with it, but that can be problematic when it comes to the content. I would still be inclined to let them do their work and then assess it afterwards though, rather than prevent them altogether.

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