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Topic: This jerk refuses to take down my articles
| Author | Message |
| Lola la la la Lola | Posted – 7/3/2008 4:37:04 PM | show profile I've reached out to him several times asking him to take down my articles. Instead of taking the articles down he added this after my name "Former freelancer - No longer afffiliated". So when you google my name, that's what comes up!!!!! There was never a contract, i wasn't paid and my name is on these articles...I really just don't want ANY association with this junk online site (www.lasplash.com). Do I have any rights in this???? |
| dribbledrive1 | Posted – 7/3/2008 4:45:36 PM | show profile The trouble is you've got yourself into a pissing contest with someone who isn't worried in the slightest what you might do. My guess is, if you want to proceed with this, you'll probably have to talk to a lawyer. |
| Scottie | Posted – 7/3/2008 5:43:17 PM | show profile You can also make a request to Google that it remove the site from its index due to their violation of copyright. It takes a few weeks but it works -- if Google sees merit in your claim. |
| Lola la la la Lola | Posted – 7/3/2008 6:03:27 PM | show profile ooo that's a good idea scottie. All I want is for his rubbish website not to come up when you google my name because nobody reads it anyway.....he comes up in top google searches only due to a good programmer. |
| weiss | Posted – 7/3/2008 7:19:12 PM | show profile CHILL and MOVE ON Look, I understand your frustration. However, I believe this is your millionth post bashing the website. Chill and move on... |
| Lula | Posted – 7/3/2008 9:16:58 PM | show profile See also this checklist for dealing with copyright infringement: http://www.mayhemstudios.com/blog/2008/02/on-line-copyright-infringement.html Your next step should be to contact the site's hosting company. |
| Lola la la la Lola | Posted – 7/3/2008 11:37:54 PM | show profile Shut it Weiss Weiss, I think chilling is a good option however I can't "chill" till that two-bob-knob takes my articles down. It's a simple request and he keeps ignoring it! How would you like it if someone googled your name and then your articles came up with the headline "Your Name - Former Freelancer - No Longer Affiliated" ......... Sorry if I'm taking up your precious bulletin board space. To everyone else thank you for the advice. |
| Lola la la la Lola | Posted – 7/3/2008 11:47:25 PM | show profile Thanks Lula, how can I find out who his hosting company is? |
| Stanley_Milgram | Posted – 7/4/2008 7:30:53 AM | show profile the simplest solution is to simply get a lawyer to write a 'cease and desist' letter on law office stationary. If you have any friends who are attorneys, you can usually talk them into doing it. 99% of the time, it doesn't take any more than that. |
| JeanMarie | Posted – 7/4/2008 5:53:50 PM | show profile | email poster What's your beef? If you gave him the story without a contract - that's on you. If you gave a story to a questionable website - that's on you. If the articles suck - that's on you. You made bad decisions and now expect someone else to bail you out? You come on here drawing attention to two lousy articles that look to be several years old? I smell a rat. Or at least someone with nothing better to do. Shouldn't you be writing something now instead of trotting out your business mistakes for all to see? Isn't really doing you any favors. |
| Stanley_Milgram | Posted – 7/4/2008 7:22:49 PM | show profile that's a bit harsh, i think. I don't see 4-cool calling attention to himself (herself?), because these posts are anonymous (out of sheer curiousity, I tried to google 'Lasplash.com former freelancer' just to read what all the fuss was about. Couldn't find it). Maybe 4-c a bit more tweaked out about this than is physically or psychologically healthy, but that's his (her? oh, whatever) business. i think if there's no contract and no consideration, then he's certainly within his rights to revoke permission to publish and the lasplash guy should be obliged to comply [for what it's worth, I am familiar with L.A. Splash. The establishment the website under discussion is associated with is a hot tub rental spa frequented by call girls and Blind Date contestants. I knew someone who worked there for many years and let's just say a post like this doesn't surprise me]. It certainly seems to qualify as a media issue so what's wrong with turning here for advice? |
| TravelPRGirl | Posted – 7/5/2008 2:09:31 PM | show profile I Google'd something similar and it looks like they've done this before to "former freelancers," including those at Tokyo Splash etc. |
| Lola la la la Lola | Posted – 7/5/2008 2:29:02 PM | show profile Jean Marie- You're a complete and utter idiot and everything you've said is INCORRECT. I did more than 2 articles so whoever's article you're reading are obviously not mine. ..and my articles were not lousy. Y ou obviously have a big tree trunk up your ass OR you must be one of the losers who live with Lawrence Davis in exchange for assisting him and he sent you on here to attack. I have a right to have MY ARTICLES taken down. Now go F yourself and leave me alone....didn't ask for your input you rubbish old hag. ....and THank you Stanley. |
| Lola la la la Lola | Posted – 7/5/2008 2:31:28 PM | show profile Stanley...you're right on about the Spa connection. Actually someone OD'd at the Splash spa and that's why it was closed down by the city as well as the fact that he couldn't keep the place clean to save his life. |
| JeanMarie | Posted – 7/5/2008 3:27:57 PM | show profile | email poster Stanley - Nothing wrong with turning here for advice. But the trick is to ask the question, get the advice, and then go execute it. We all get caught up in the opportunity to vent anonymously (or at least we think it's anonymously), but in this industry and economy there isn't time. Now to the 'business' side of this: I realize what I said was harsh, but there are some things about this business that drive me nuts. 1. Why do people turn over work to ANYONE without a contract? You're asking to get f'ed over when you do that. That's business 101. If I'm wrong, and you didn't give him the articles, then please set me straight. 2. Sending a cease and desist letter is not a big deal. Again, when you deal with online work, it's something you should understand and have at the ready. 3. If (as you say) this is a trash website, couldn't you have determined that before you ever sent your stuff? Your reputation is all you have. Be careful where your stuff ends up. (and be careful how you behave on internet forums) If you reread, I didn't say your stuff was rubbish. I didn't say you don't have the right to seek remedy. I did say that you bear some responsibility for the pickle you find yourself in. That's a tough pill to swallow. Maybe your situation can teach someone reading this about what NOT to do. You've certainly got advice how to seek remedy and protect yourself in the future. One last thing. None of us are as 'anonymous' as we think. I don't know who Davis is and you don't know me. If you want to suggest spruce locations or play guess-my-age, you should probably do it privately. Or count to ten. |
| worldofnatasha | Posted – 7/5/2008 3:39:05 PM | show profile four cool cats -- I understand you're upset about this situation, but your reply to JeanMarie was so over-the-top angry -- telling her to go f herself and calling her an old hag? if you're worried about your online reputation and how you're being portrayed by stuff you've written, it seems to me like you've done far more damage to yourself with this post than with your pieces at la splash. |
| dribbledrive1 | Posted – 7/5/2008 3:45:44 PM | show profile ---I have a right to have MY ARTICLES taken down.--- Well, I think the main thing for you to take away from this is to, in the future, act professionally and send and receive contracts specifying what rights you are granting. If you send in a piece to an online magazine, specify how long they may keep it up. It appears that you did grant them permission to post the article. The issue now is that you never specified if and when they have to take it down. And so, consequently, you are hoping you legally have the right to have them take it down, without really knowing whether that is the case. For example, if I sell all rights to an article, I don't have the right to tell someone to take it down because it is no longer my property, just as I can't tell someone what to do with house that I build for myself and later sell to them. |
| Lola la la la Lola | Posted – 7/5/2008 7:36:16 PM | show profile WorldofNatasha...I agree with you that I may have overreacted to Peen Marie. I stooped to her level by reacting to her bitter post. I should have just ignored her however please refer to her initial negative post and you'll see that she started attacking me by saying "I smell a rat" as well as referring to articles that she thinks are mine as "lousy"....also saying that there are only 2 articles. There are dozens & dozens of articles that I posted on that damn site. I did not start the attacks. I came on here to ask about this because Mediabistro is the "go-to" site for media professionals and I figured that I could find some good advice (which I have from many people who have posted here). Basically, I posted a few articles to this guy's website...I wasn't paid, there was no contract (my bad! but lesson learned) and I just want him to take them down but he won't even though I've sent him so many emails. I don't want any association with what he does...demanding extra freebies from publicists, bothering pr people about taking his girlfriend on press trips (!!!), abusing the people who work for him...I want NO ASSOCIATION .....I suppose my next option is to pay a lawyer to write a cease and desist letter...seems like the best option. End of story. |
| Stanley_Milgram | Posted – 7/5/2008 7:57:14 PM | show profile not so, dribble... As someone who has used the legal hammer against publishers on more than one occasion, I can say with all the certainty a non-lawyer can muster, that without any consideration (i.e. payment of one form or another), the site has no rights to 4-cool's material regardless of whether they originally had permission (tacit, it seems, since there was no contract) to publish it or not. The only pertinent question is whether 4-cool can prove original ownership of material and since the site in publishing it under 4-cool's byline, I don't think that should be too much of a problem. And for his personal, legal and judgmental failures, this is not my purview and others have weighed in at length on those matters. |
| JeanMarie | Posted – 7/5/2008 7:59:52 PM | show profile | email poster "two lousy articles" In this particular instance I wasn't using the word lousy to suggest your articles aren't well written. In my part of the country "two lousy articles" could be translated to mean "only two articles" and indicate surprise with the relationship between something small and something large. ie: "After searching the entire yard, I'd only found two lousy easter eggs." Get it? Perhaps a regional misunderstanding. |
| Lola la la la Lola | Posted – 7/5/2008 8:04:55 PM | show profile wow thanks so much for the advice Stanley....helps to reinforce my feeling that my argument holds water. also your little Cougar poem on another post made my day! |
| JeanMarie | Posted – 7/5/2008 8:06:01 PM | show profile | email poster Stanley - There are also plenty of examples where 'consideration' has included both the actual publication of the item and the byline attached. I'd be curious to find out if the OP included these stories in her periodic submissions to the copyright office. While not technically necessary to recover damages, it's a good habit to get into and can support any future litigation. |
| Lola la la la Lola | Posted – 7/5/2008 8:06:29 PM | show profile Perhaps "I smell a rat" is also a regional missunderstanding as well? Rats are disgusting no matter where you go in the world. |
| jseconds77 | Posted – 7/5/2008 8:36:39 PM | show profile ok. let's all take a collective breath here. Name calling and now personal attacks are uncalled for. Why? In such a tough industry, why resort to attacking eachother? People come here to learn, vent, and offer possible solutions to trying issues. Stuff like this will only detract people from this web site. Honestly, I do think this is a helpful site, so let's focus on that. |
| dribbledrive1 | Posted – 7/5/2008 8:50:36 PM | show profile I have no idea myself, Stanley. It's a legal question outside the scope of my knowledge. I also don't know practically, what is required to get a publication to take down an article in this situation because fortunately I have never been in that position. I think the bottom line, though, is to make sure you are using good practices and solid contracts, so you aren't in a situation where you are coming to online boards like this for free legal advice from non-lawyers and hoping the advice you are getting is correct. --not so, dribble... As someone who has used the legal hammer against publishers on more than one occasion, I can say with all the certainty a non-lawyer can muster, that without any consideration (i.e. payment of one form or another), the site has no rights to 4-cool's material regardless of whether they originally had permission (tacit, it seems, since there was no contract) to publish it or not. The only pertinent question is whether 4-cool can prove original ownership of material and since the site in publishing it under 4-cool's byline, I don't think that should be too much of a problem.-- |
