work stolen

[tatum radcliffe]

forgive the rant, but i'm STILL freaking livid.

i submitted (and had published) a piece in the college's lit mag. unfortunately, it was printed untitled and credited to someone else. the moron in charge made an announcement stating that the work was mine at the unvieling/English Department gathering. I was then informed that there would be a sheet printed and inserted into the books telling people that the piece was mine. This is not good enough. Short of dragging the editor into court, what other recourse do I have?

[Mindgames]

None, and to be honest I wouldn't go there for a small-circulation mag at your own college.. nothing like serving paper on your own doorstep to start a public image problem!

Unless you had a written contract with the publication they can argue that your submission transferred intellectual property rights to them, including what's gloriously known as 'right to dissociate and derive' - meaning an editor can alter your work, choose not to credit you, etc. etc. - to retain that right you'd need to have granted the publication a limited usage license, and I'm guessing you didn't.

If you did, then you can easily sue for civil damages but proving what you've suffered in a financial sense is almost impossible, as you weren't going to get any royalties for the work even if they'd got your name right. Criminally they've steered very close to the cliff but without that all-important agreement between you both, they haven't done anything specifically illegal.

I'd ask them to print a clarification in the next issue and write it off as a learning experience. Nothing personal hon, but it's the best you'll get without making enemies and while you may be pissed, it hasn't cost you anything.

mG

[tatum radcliffe]

so i get screwed for their incompetence. fucking wonderful. i will NEVER have anything to do with these mags again.

[Amelia G]

Oh, that really sucks that that happened to you. Definitely make them print the additional piece of paper with the correction like they offered. One of the unfortunate things about the print medium versus web is that errors are hard to fix. On a web site, someone more competent and careful than the editor could just log in and fix the error and only a few people would see it wrong. For print, a college lit mag isn't going to have the money to reprint a whole edition to fix one error. So the only options they have are: print an apology and correction next issue (the most useless), include an extra piece of paper with the current edition with the correct info on it, or sticker everything. Honestly, a lot of publications don't bother to do any of these.

Despite how awful it is to have your work credited to someone else, them being willing to print an additional piece of paper and include your proper info is actually way better than most publishers would do for you. For example, when Forrest Black and I used to work a lot for Tattoo Savage, on a number of occasions they credited our work to editor Billy Tinney. I like his work, so at least they didn't credit it to a hack, but I don't think they ever once printed a correction. So, now that the damage is done, you are probably best off thanking them for the paper insert and requesting the opportunity to help them proofread future editions.

No sense keeping yourself from ever getting exposure there again, but, as I assume a college pub is local to you, you may be able to look at what is called galleys beforehand to make sure they got your name right. Yes, I am a control freak and, yes, I have done this and, yes, I actually had a publisher get pissed off at me for making them get my name right on the cover of a book I edited. You may want to study up on graphics a bit, if they prove difficult to work with on this. In the incident where the publisher got my name wrong on the cover and I caught it on the proof and they still didn't want to fix it before press, I was able to get them to make it right partly because I was able to give very specific instructions and offer to walk the graphics department through what was really a very easy fix on printer's film.

If I'd let one person not giving me proper credit stop me from doing anything creative ever again, I think I would have enjoyed my life a whole lot less up until now. So hang in there.

[HeadlessBill]

I can't count the number of times my last name (and sometime my first) has appeared misspelled in theatre programs and film credits. And this is from people that also knew me on a regular basis outside of the stage or video production.

[tatum radcliffe]

Oh, that really sucks that that happened to you. Definitely make them print the additional piece of paper with the correction like they offered. One of the unfortunate things about the print medium versus web is that errors are hard to fix. On a web site, someone more competent and careful than the editor could just log in and fix the error and only a few people would see it wrong. For print, a college lit mag isn't going to have the money to reprint a whole edition to fix one error. So the only options they have are: print an apology and correction next issue (the most useless), include an extra piece of paper with the current edition with the correct info on it, or sticker everything. Honestly, a lot of publications don't bother to do any of these.

Despite how awful it is to have your work credited to someone else, them being willing to print an additional piece of paper and include your proper info is actually way better than most publishers would do for you. For example, when Forrest Black and I used to work a lot for Tattoo Savage, on a number of occasions they credited our work to editor Billy Tinney. I like his work, so at least they didn't credit it to a hack, but I don't think they ever once printed a correction. So, now that the damage is done, you are probably best off thanking them for the paper insert and requesting the opportunity to help them proofread future editions.

No sense keeping yourself from ever getting exposure there again, but, as I assume a college pub is local to you, you may be able to look at what is called galleys beforehand to make sure they got your name right. Yes, I am a control freak and, yes, I have done this and, yes, I actually had a publisher get pissed off at me for making them get my name right on the cover of a book I edited. You may want to study up on graphics a bit, if they prove difficult to work with on this. In the incident where the publisher got my name wrong on the cover and I caught it on the proof and they still didn't want to fix it before press, I was able to get them to make it right partly because I was able to give very specific instructions and offer to walk the graphics department through what was really a very easy fix on printer's film.

If I'd let one person not giving me proper credit stop me from doing anything creative ever again, I think I would have enjoyed my life a whole lot less up until now. So hang in there.

Unfortunately, they did credit it to a hack. I wrote the piece after breaking up with my long time girlfriend. The man they credited the piece with seems very keen on simple sentences and unimaginative plots. Yeah, my piece was all vulnerable emotional chick stuff, but still... it was better written. Additionally, I have personal issues with the guy that they gave credit to.

I met with the head of the department this morning to see what they were doing about it. For now, the paper is good enough. The piece is being printed in next year's addition with all the corrections and an apology.

Out of curiousity, how safe is publishing pieces on the web?

[Nudemuse]

Unfortunately, they did credit it to a hack. I wrote the piece after breaking up with my long time girlfriend. The man they credited the piece with seems very keen on simple sentences and unimaginative plots. Yeah, my piece was all vulnerable emotional chick stuff, but still... it was better written. Additionally, I have personal issues with the guy that they gave credit to.

I met with the head of the department this morning to see what they were doing about it. For now, the paper is good enough. The piece is being printed in next year's addition with all the corrections and an apology.

Out of curiousity, how safe is publishing pieces on the web?

It really depends. If you are putting writings or whatever in a journal or posting them places most publications will consider that "previously published material" and shy away from reprinting it unless you are specifically asked for a piece. What's important is to read what rights the publication has to your work.

A lot of publications ask for First North American Serial rights in which case after a set period of time you are free to republish at will.

Read more about different kind of rights here. Make sure you do your research on a publication before submitting and also take care to deal with misprints etc in a calm polite manner no use in burning bridges.

As for the issue of "safety" nothing on t he net or otherwise is "safe" from plagiarism and misuse and that is something you just have to deal with when you create anything. If you are seriously concerned about it learn all you can about copyright law, keep track of where you publish what and go from there.

[Mr Karl]

oh well, live and learn