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juliework6
Community Member

What to do if a former client stole my byline and attributed a dozen articles to someone else?

I worked for a former client for low pay with the agreement that I would get attribution for my articles. He's now changed them on his website and given credit to someone else--essentially stealing my work. Do I have any recourse? Can I report him or have him blocked as a client here on upwork? I've already reached out to him and asked him to change it, but he hasn't responded. 

ACCEPTED SOLUTION

It's the realities that are harsh, not the people who share them.

 

A bit of elaboration on the rights issue: Upwork's default contract terms transfer sole rights to the client upon payment. Unless you and the client entered into a written contract that overrides that term, you have no rights to assert. (It sounds like you may have had a supplemental contract term re attribution--I'll  circle back to that in a moment).

 

When Jenn says "you have no damages" she doesn't mean that the issue isn't important to you or that you haven't suffered disappointment. She's speaking from a legal perspective (as is appropriate, since you're looking for a legal remedy). Were you to pursue this legally, what monetary damages would you assert, and how would you prove them? 

 

There is one issue left unaddressed in the two previous responses, and that is the possibility that you reserved the right to be credited on the work in a written agreement with the client that supersedes Upwork's default terms. If in fact that was included in the offer the client sent and you accepted, then they may have breached your contract. 

 

But, that brings you back around to Jenn's point. Upwork can't help you with that. And, enforcing specific performance of contract terms is difficult and expensive. If you are willing to invest several thousand dollars and 9-18 months in pursuit of that goal, it's possible that you could force the client to use your byline--IF it continued to use your work at all. But, as all of the experienced freelancers here are telling you, it is an expensive extreme long shot.

 

Generally, it's a very poor idea to reduce rates for bylines, since most bylines aren't worth much. The client can edit your work into a form that you don't want displaying your name, for example, or the quality of other content on the site may create a poor impression of you by association. But, if that is something that is important to you, make sure it is a clear contract term. 

 

You might gain more by reserving the right to use the pieces as samples.

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12 REPLIES 12
lysis10
Community Member

Unless it's some large company where they promised you a byline, I'd move on. If it's some no-name blahhhhhg, then you didn't suffer any damages.

Dear Jennifer M. 

That's a completely unhelpful answer. I don't suffer any damages? That's my work and it has been stolen. Have you ever had something stolen from you? Have you ever heard of intellectual property? (Are you a writer or artist of any sort? If not, maybe you don't understand the value of a personal creation) 

The whole reason I discovered this is that I was going to use one of those articles as a part of my bio for a potential new client. MY work. MY ideas. And now, if I use it in my bio, it looks like I have actually stolen it from someone else. 

We had an agreement and now this client has broken that agreement. I want to report them to Upwork so at least they cannot hire on here and steal from someone else! 

Please, if someone else here has a HELPFUL answer, please let me know!



 


Julie W wrote:


We had an agreement and now this client has broken that agreement. I want to report them to Upwork so at least they cannot hire on here and steal from someone else! 

Please, if someone else here has a HELPFUL answer, please let me know!


The client did not steal your work, they bought it. As far as Upwork is concerned, the client hired you, you were paid, that's it.

 

Whatever private arrangements you had with the client are between yourself and the client. And Jennifer is a writer, so she does know what she is talking about.

 

Unless you have an actual agreement about the intellectual property (NOT whether you get a byline or not) all rights pass to the client upon payment under Upwork's default terms.

 

Even if you have such an agreement, it is still between the client and yourself. Upwork does not get involved in that and certainly won't kick out a client over it.

Wow. You guys are harsh. That is not at all what I expected from a community forum. I imagined the community would be supportive and would want to protect others from deceitful clients. My bad. 

I find the fact that you are called "Solution Authors" to be a bit of an overstatement. 


Julie W wrote:

Wow. You guys are harsh. That is not at all what I expected from a community forum. I imagined the community would be supportive and would want to protect others from deceitful clients. My bad. 

I find the fact that you are called "Solution Authors" to be a bit of an overstatement. 


I am being supportive. Don't sweat the small stuff. If it's a no-name blaaaahg and they didn't give you a byline, nothing of value was lost.

 

Adobe screwed me over a byline and I was mad too. But fighting their $1000/hour lawyers probably ain't in the cards so whatever man I put their name on my portfolio and left it at that.



I am being supportive. Don't sweat the small stuff. If it's a no-name blaaaahg and they didn't give you a byline, nothing of value was lost.

Jennifer M. 

It seems that you and I have different definitions of "value" and "support". Fascinating, since we are both writers, that we would have such different understandings of English words. 

And I'm not sure why everyone keeps assuming that I want to take legal action. I didn't say that. I wondered if I could report the client to Upwork. Apparently that was in a moment of insanity when I forgot that Upwork doesn't care about anything but money.

 

I am sane again now and will get off of this platform before anyone else gets hurt. I'll find my support elsewhere, in a place where people understand what that means. But thanks for trying.



There is nothing "harsh" about facts. They are neither cuddly nor harsh nor anything else. They just are.

Upwork has clear default contract language. Unless you establish a separate alternative contract, the client owns the work and may certainly attribute it to someone else.

 

Which is very normal in the world of writing and publishing.

 

Lots of books are "written" by famous people who never even read the books much less written them. Like William Shatner's science fiction novels. Not to mention all the books written by people who don't even exist, but are published under the names of house pseudonyms. E.g. Carolyn Keene, Franklin W. Dixon, etc.

I understand Ghost-writing. This is not that. But I appreciate your comment and the fact that your explanation is not flippant. 

It's the realities that are harsh, not the people who share them.

 

A bit of elaboration on the rights issue: Upwork's default contract terms transfer sole rights to the client upon payment. Unless you and the client entered into a written contract that overrides that term, you have no rights to assert. (It sounds like you may have had a supplemental contract term re attribution--I'll  circle back to that in a moment).

 

When Jenn says "you have no damages" she doesn't mean that the issue isn't important to you or that you haven't suffered disappointment. She's speaking from a legal perspective (as is appropriate, since you're looking for a legal remedy). Were you to pursue this legally, what monetary damages would you assert, and how would you prove them? 

 

There is one issue left unaddressed in the two previous responses, and that is the possibility that you reserved the right to be credited on the work in a written agreement with the client that supersedes Upwork's default terms. If in fact that was included in the offer the client sent and you accepted, then they may have breached your contract. 

 

But, that brings you back around to Jenn's point. Upwork can't help you with that. And, enforcing specific performance of contract terms is difficult and expensive. If you are willing to invest several thousand dollars and 9-18 months in pursuit of that goal, it's possible that you could force the client to use your byline--IF it continued to use your work at all. But, as all of the experienced freelancers here are telling you, it is an expensive extreme long shot.

 

Generally, it's a very poor idea to reduce rates for bylines, since most bylines aren't worth much. The client can edit your work into a form that you don't want displaying your name, for example, or the quality of other content on the site may create a poor impression of you by association. But, if that is something that is important to you, make sure it is a clear contract term. 

 

You might gain more by reserving the right to use the pieces as samples.

Thank you Tiffany, for a well-thought-out answer that is not flippant. I think the people who answered previously were harsh and impatient. And in that case, I wonder why they bothered to answer in the first place. 

I am not trying to take legal action. That wasn't ever on my mind (or in my original question). I was simply trying to find out if I could protect other freelancers. But somehow, in a moment of insanity, I forgot that I am on a platform that doesn't care about anything but making money. Silly me. 

This Upwork "community" is a place I dip into about once a year or so and almost always regret it. I should know better than to expect improvement--as if the people here would somehow be different than anywhere else online, or different (kinder?) than they were previously. 

But you have been generous with your information and I appreciate it, Tiffany. Thank you. 

 

 

 


Julie W wrote:

Thank you Tiffany, for a well-thought-out answer that is not flippant. I think the people who answered previously were harsh and impatient. And in that case, I wonder why they bothered to answer in the first place. 

I am not trying to take legal action. That wasn't ever on my mind (or in my original question). I was simply trying to find out if I could protect other freelancers. But somehow, in a moment of insanity, I forgot that I am on a platform that doesn't care about anything but making money. Silly me. 

This Upwork "community" is a place I dip into about once a year or so and almost always regret it. I should know better than to expect improvement--as if the people here would somehow be different than anywhere else online, or different (kinder?) than they were previously. 

But you have been generous with your information and I appreciate it, Tiffany. Thank you. 


____________________________________________________________
There is absolutely nothing to suggest altruism and the wish to help other freelancers in your original post. 

"I worked for a former client for low pay with the agreement that I would get attribution for my articles. He's now changed them on his website and given credit to someone else--essentially stealing my work. Do I have any recourse? Can I report him or have him blocked as a client here on upwork? I've already reached out to him and asked him to change it, but he hasn't responded." 

And later, only that you wished for the client to be suspended in order not to cheat other freelancers. Something that is not likely to happen

 

On the other hand, Tiffany's advice, which  would probably cost $$$$ from a B&M lawyer, is also advice that very much benefits other freelancers.  

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