Jen at CatalystBlogger had a great post nearly a year ago on Shady Writing Projects. On the list was “Rewrite this so we can’t be sued for copyright.” While it’s pretty easy to figure out what to do when a client hits you with that line (run), what about the clients who don’t tell you you’re simply reworking someone else’s copy – and it’s not theirs? Jen says run it through Copyscape, which is a great idea. If it shows up somewhere else, dump the client, but do let them know about copyright laws and plagiarism fines. While they may not listen, they can’t say they weren’t warned.
I worked with a client once who did something just as bad – he removed all attributes from all the statistics and quotes I’d supplied with an article. Actually, the situation was even weirder than that. His client was paying him to generate articles. He hired me. My workload suddenly increased, so I hired a writer friend to help with one of the articles. He did a spectacular job presenting the topic and all statistical information.
Then things got weird. I sent the article to the client dude and he sent it back with all the attributes removed. I told my friend, who was understandably upset, as was I. I argued on behalf of the writer (who the client dude thought was me), but he dismissed everything, including mention of plagiarism, by saying his client wanted it that way. Fine, but his client had better be able to stand up and defend that action, for this client dude had done something pretty dumb. He signed a contract with me, including a nondisclosure agreement, but never mentioned who the client was. There was nothing tying that work back to me (you might argue there were emails, but those same emails included my strong objections to his removing said attributes – doubtful he’d use those). If his client goes down, he does, too. Even better – because my writer friend and I had worked together for years, we had no written agreement between us – it was over the phone. My friend’s name would never be attached to that article. My client dude had no idea he was even involved. Amen for that.
I was somewhat fortunate in that the client dude did run the copy by me before sending it on to his client. I found that rather odd, but it gave me an out. Should things get ugly, he can’t argue I did it, for I have written proof to the contrary. And again, prove I wrote that for your client.
Plagiarism that happens once the piece is beyond your control shouldn’t be your problem, but it is. If someone comes back screeching to you about suing, you need to be able to defend your actions. Back up emails to Mozy. Ask to see that final copy or that published piece. Make it part of your contract if you feel compelled to. The days of writing, filing, and forgetting about it are over thanks to the proliferation of clients who have no knowledge (or concern) about copyright laws or plagiarism issues.
Have you ever dealt with a less-than-above-board client? What was the situation? How’d it turn out?
Where’s the ethics? Makes you wish to be back in the 50s when these things were the exception. Thanks for the reference links!
Early in my career, I was asked to rewrite a website for a client. On the website, there was a clear statement claiming copyright of the written text. When I wrote the proposal, I suggested some pages be completely rewritten, others just tweaked a tiny bit. Client signed off on it. When I turned the copy in, client said, “Hey, shouldn’t page X, Y,and Z look more different? They look too much like other people’s sites.”
Yep, client had hopscotched over the web, stealing copy from his competitors, and putting it on his own site (with a copyright notice claiming ownership!) until it could be rewritten. The pages he thought should look “more different” were the very pages I’d proposed keeping almost the same. So I guess he didn’t read the proposal, either.
He wanted me to redo everything for free. I said no. Then he wanted a refund, and said he wouldn’t use the material. I said no. So we agreed on a compromise … he would give me original copy, and I would spell and grammar check it and we’d call it even. I agreed. Then I ran his new “original” copy through copyscape, and you guessed it – he’d copied that from someone else, too. I told him I was on to him, reported him to the web host, and told him if it ever showed up on his website, I’d tell the people he stole it from, too. He flipped out, so I stopped accepting his calls. I should have known he’d be difficult – he was the kind of guy who insisted on a phone conference at 4pm on Christmas Eve and then stood me up.
Since that time, I always put a clause in my contract requiring client to certify that he owns intellectual property rights to the originating material.
I’ve never had that kind of bad experience with a client, but it’s partly because I haven’t dealt with many clients — which is why I’m applying to jobs back in the corporate world. But Mozy and Copyscape look like two good resources, and Mozy at least will be useful even if I don’t stay in business for myself. So thanks, Lori 🙂
Kirk, hang in there. It takes some time and a huge amount of effort at first, but work is there to be had. 🙂
Eileen, that’s horrible! Good for you for reporting him. I wish I were more surprised by clients behaving badly, but I’ve seen quite a bit. This one, though, sounds like a real bad character. Glad you dumped him!
Plagiarism is nasty but it is also rampant on the web. I have a clause in my contract that states the client is responsible for all material they send to me in terms of ownership.