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Topic: Please help, stolen intellectual property!
| Author | Message |
| Xenophiliac | Posted – 10/18/2007 12:03:37 AM | show profile About 10 years ago when I was just starting out as a writer, a college friend got a grant to edit a book and asked me to contribute a personal essay. I recently found out that my essay was republished in a college textbook. I retain copyright to the piece. I contacted my original editor and she confirmed this. Her book was published through a small press; the other book is a McGraw-Hill textbook. I found out about this through Googling myself. I was very surprised and taken aback. The essay is about very personal issues; I was young when I wrote it and Google wasn't even an issue then. Now anyone can Google me and find out certain things about me that I would, now, think twice about telling people (especially potential employers). I was never asked for permission to reprint the piece and the people at the original press don't seem to know what happened either. I've tried contacting McGraw-Hill, but don't know who to talk to there. I recently left a message with the editor of the textbook, whose work phone I found online. Any advice on how to proceed? I was planning to simply explain to her what happened, ask who gave permission, and find out the name of the person she worked with at McGraw-Hill and then track that person down and see if I can be compensated and the essay withdrawn or published under a pseudonym in future editions. I have considered legal action but I think it's too early to look into that (and also don't think it would be worth most lawyers' time, honestly -- I'm not famous). Of course, I wasn't paid, either. |
| eriksherman | Posted – 10/18/2007 9:31:27 AM | show profile | email poster If you never registered the copyright, then you couldn't take legal action on that basis until you did, and then, because you didn't register before the infringement, the costs of a suit would far outweigh what you might make. However, you might be able to force them to get it out of publication. ------ Free writer resources: http://www.eriksherman.com/WriterBiz |
| westsidestory | Posted – 10/18/2007 10:03:26 AM | show profile handling McGraw-Hill and Google 1. Decide first what you want - compensation or a removal of the essay from future editions of the textbook. 2. Call the McGraw- Hill Education Rights and Permissions Office - 212-904-2574 - and ask to speak to Bonnie -- if she's not there, then who in the legal department should be contact for your specific request - to remove or be paid for a non-permissioned essay. You'll probably be asked to make your request in writing, and they may boot it up to the legal department. Don't expect to get reimbursed, especially under a pseudonym, for a piece you did file copyright for. Never happen. They may, however, agree to pull the essay for future editions. 3. Google has been very sensitive about removing non-permissioned material on line. They will most likely honor your request to pull an essay whose ownership is in dispute. You'll need to go through the website for googleprint - here is the contacts page: https://books.google.com/partner/contact |
| westsidestory | Posted – 10/18/2007 10:07:41 AM | show profile sorry, meant " for a piece you DIDN'T file copyright for. As the other poster mentioned, you did not retain copyright unless you filed it within the allotted time. However, if you have a copy of the original book, there may be a rights and acknowledgements page that indicates your ownership of your essay. Usually in front or back of book. If so, a photocopy of the page will assist your mission. |
