Hello I am an article writer and recently I started writing for one client who demands submission of the articles, quite a lot, and payment afterward by 3 days after reviewing. everything is ok but I am afraid of fraudulence. So, please advise me on how to reserve the copyright after the articles are sent to the client and not paid for it. I wish to use the articles for my site if not paid. anybody pls regards abisana
Abisana. It is good that you want to copyright your articles. Many writers do not pay attention and end up losing value of their work. Not sure if you have any clause/agreement with your client on content copyright. Is there any payment time limit. Tomorrow, he may surface to claim the content. If there is no time frame for payment, it is better you send him a notice to respond in 7 days or 10 days (it is a good legal practice to give other person time of 10 days to respond). If possible, involve an attorney to send such notice. It must not cost you much. Once everything is crystal clear (I mean the ownership of the content), you can emanate to file the copyright application. There are two options: 1) Hire an attorney to do it for you 2) Avail online services like legalzoom You can do it yourself, but it is not recommended. My personal opinion, avoid #2 also if possible. Online filing agencies tend to ignore a lot of aspects. They do not even review your application for correctness. Check their T&C, you will find a clause where they mention that they are not authorized to legally review your application OR that they will not review you article on legal aspects. Your attorney can file the application online, depending on your country of residence and where the copyright application is being filed. A federal attorney will review your application and will get in touch if there is any issue, missing information, or additional information is required. He may reject your application if it is spinned, already published, or claimed. On approval, you will receive a letter certifying your copyright over the content. Hope this helps.
Rather than having to go through all the attorney fuss wouldn't it be easier to just ask for advance payment first to avoid getting cheated?
Or, simply say when making the deal.... "I, __(your name)___, retain all rights to the material, including copyright, and the exclusive right to publish the material until the agreed upon payment has been made by the buyer of the material and received by me. Mere transmission of the material to the buyer for review confers no rights of ownership in the material, no right publish the material, and no right to use the material in any manner." End of story. And, if your work is created in the United States, it is already copyrighted the moment it is put in tangible form. (written down outside your brain.)
I am really thankful to those who have given me all these advises and I hope I can make best out of it.