Author: Chris
Date:   11-06-03 20:06

Recently a magazine published an article I did not write and put my byline on the piece. I submitted an article to the magazine about the same subject a year before. The article they published was written by one of the staffers and did contain several quotes that I had submitted, but that was all.
I am really upset by this and have hired an attorney. I feel they do not have the right to put my name on someone else's work.
I need to know if any other writers have had similiar circumstances and what they did. The magazine has tried to pay me, but I have not accepted payment.
I would appreciate any comments or advice on what to do. Thanks a lot.

Author: Chris Graham
Date:   11-06-03 23:03

I saw this happen at a semi-large newspaper that I worked for, although most of the squabbling was between staffers and/or freelancers arguing over bylines.

I've honestly never heard of it happening at a reputable magazine. Is this a reputable magazine?

I agree with your approach/reaction, but I have to wonder what it will cost you to pursue this legally. Have you given the financial implications any consideration?

The real problem here is that even if you are successful there will be little or no monetary recourse to compensate you for your time, and you will, unfortunately spend a great deal of time.

Author: Pamela Taylor
Date:   11-07-03 00:19

Chris,

Sounds like the magazine thinks they edited your piece since it uses information you provided and they paid you for it. Seems to me they being generous, putting your by-line on it and sending you a check. If it is really so different from what you wrote, they could have simply run the article under a different person's name, and you would have gotten nothing out of it, especially if the quotes were in the public domain.

Pamela

Author: Les Lester
Date:   11-07-03 13:24

Chris, since the magazine gave you the by-line, they've done their professional duty. You supplied them the information they needed and now they have attempted to compensate you. Editors change writers' work around all the time--it's the business part of publishing.
They, apparently, weren't interested in the esthetics of your work, but the facts made the day. It's called professionalism... .

Author: Granny
Date:   11-08-03 07:28

It rather depends upon your contract. If you signed an All Rights contract or a Work for Hire -- they have a heck of a lot more freedom (almost total freedom) to change your words than if you signed a lesser contract. Though, even then, if you can prove the changes are damaging to your career -- you stand a chance. I have a friend who signed an ALL RIGHTS contract for a poem she sold to a magazine. The first time they ran it as she wrote it. A year later, they ran it again, totally garbled -- the meter was a mess and the rhymes didn't actually rhyme. Since she makes her living as a rhyming picture book author -- she had some legal ground to stand on since the changes effected her ability to make a living.

I have written two different pieces for magazines (both magazines were considered reputable in the children's writing field -- one is no longer publishing though) which changed the pieces TOTALLY. Heck, one of the magazines changed my BIO -- my life became so much more interesting and dramatic! I took a lot of ribbing for that one. But the changes didn't effect how I was viewed in the industry and there is no "legal standard" for how much editing is acceptable when the contract doesn't specify. My lawyer (whom I asked only as a FYI -- mostly I was only mildly annoyed) told me it was highly unlikely that a judge would find in my favor since generally judges don't completely understand what writers get so "het up" about.

Of course, you can sue for any and every reason (or so a lawyer told me) -- so, good luck.

Gran