So, you sued that deadbeat publisher in small claims court and you won. Congratulations! After the satisfaction of winning settles in, you start to wonder when he’s finally going to pay you. You do some research and discover there’s still really no way to force him to send you a check.
This week:
The Writer’s Weekly article about copyright infringement put me in mind of a few times it has been done to me, and, as well, the problems created by non-journalists using the Internet without benefit of instruction.
I found a story of mine on Gather.com – copyright infringement. I am so glad you published your article.
I saw the response you received, which of, course, sounded like a run-around. I would like to be paid for my story on their site. I love your idea of invoicing. What shall I charge for a 600-word humor column? That’s what was filched.
In order for someone to be successful, she often has to try something completely new. I became a successful paid speechwriter just by “going out on a limb” and attempting something novel and different.
After lunch on Friday, we took a cab to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Max had been waiting for this homeschooling field trip for weeks! We looked at the medieval outfits first…chain mail, suits of armor, things like that. Max had recently studied medieval times and was really enjoying seeing real armor and other protective clothing that people wore back then. He also thought the real swords and other weapons, laden with gems and intricate etchings, were pretty cool. He was having a great time! Mason, on the other hand, was bored out of his mind. He likes museums but he wanted to see some trains…and he kept asking about trains, over and over again. I figured out a way to placate him. I told him, “They have lots of paintings here, Mason. Let’s hunt for a train painting!”
That seemed to work. Now, admittedly, I figured we would NOT find a train painting there, but hunting for one would keep Mason busy until we got to the gift shop, at which time he would most certainly forget all about trains. But, we didn’t plan on stopping by the gift shop until the end of our visit.
As we were leaving the medieval display, and moving to another, Mason was once again saying, “Where’s the train painting? I wanna find the train painting.”
I gently reminded him, “Keep looking, honey.”
At that moment, a nosy man with a kid in tow leaned down to Mason, sticking his nose into OUR business, and said, “I’m sorry to disappoint you, young man, but there are no paintings of trains in this museum.”
You should have seen Mason’s face. It was like the man told him there was no such thing as fairies. Mason went from frown to public meltdown. I wanted to have a meltdown, too. I mean, the guy had a kid. He must have known I was trying to divert Mason’s attention for a few hours. I wanted to throttle that man!!!
Read more HERE.
I have another Masonism for you this week.
Mason (age 3) announced this week, “I need to make a train cake tomorrow.” He then paused, looking upward and drumming his fingers on his lips, and added, “And then I need to put it in the fridge.”
Hugs to all!
Angela
It’s always interesting when someone calls themselves a writer…when stealing another writer’s work.
Last week, I shared the story of invoicing Anne Wayman $38,250 after finding 51 incidents of copyright infringement on her website, aboutfreelancewriting.com.
This week, we’re exposing more copyright infringers, along with their responses (or lack thereof)…
Angela,
Bummer about Anne Wayman– but you are right to go after her this time. The old adage, “Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me,” applies here, I believe.
Kevin
~~~~~
Angela,
Thank you for the information about the copyright infringement. I subscribe to Anne Wayman’s site and receive those writing opportunities. I will be unsubscribing from her site immediately. I understand that my one subscription will not make a difference, but for me it is the principle of the matter.
I hope others will take whatever stand they can about this issue and support our individual hard work and writing as writers.
~~~~~
Dear Angela,
I am so sorry you had to write that article on copyright infringement. Oh boy, I can’t even imagine the hurt and fury you are feeling right now, and you are completely entitled. Talk about egregious! What, she didn’t learn her lesson eight years ago?! Please hang in there, I appreciate all your efforts.
Regards,
Nancy
~~~~~
Have you read what Anne Wayman posted to her homepage, annewayman.com?
“Honesty – Whether it’s honesty about her own abilities, the state of a project or an assessment of other’s work, Anne knows that a gentle telling of the truth often works unexpected miracles.”
Ha ha ha!
Scott
If sitting thoughtfully at your computer leaves you dry for query ideas, go hang out with your kids. They unwittingly hold an abundance of possible topics.
Hi Angela
Regarding this statute:
(1) Except as provided by clause (2) of this subsection, the copyright owner may elect, at any time before final judgment is rendered, to recover, instead of actual damages and profits, an award of statutory damages for all infringements involved in the action, with respect to any one work, for which any one infringer is liable individually, or for which any two or more infringers are liable jointly and severally, in a sum of not less than $750 or more than $30,000 as the court considers just. For the purposes of this subsection, all the parts of a compilation or derivative work constitute one work.
The WritersWeekly invoice to Anne Wayman stated:
“We are invoicing you $750 for each week you published WritersWeekly.com’s copyrighted material.”
You will note that the highlighted sentence reads “in a sum…”, that mean total, which cannot exceed 30,000.00. Your invoice is for more than 30K.
MR
