Usage License

[J. A. Young]

Anyone else have any issues with buyers purchasing usage rights, but then removing byline? I randomly tested one--they did not include my byline--and now I'm afraid to look at the others:( I contacted support--is that the right course of action? It could be an *accident* but considering the usage asking was much less than the full rights, as one would expect, I am worried. Just wondering what other experiences are and if this is an ongoing issue. Thanks for any feedback. --JA

[DennyK]

I haven't sold any usage rights articles, but I do see your point. I would think that a usage right would include the need or requirement to leave your byline intact.

To the contrary, I have sold a couple full rights articles that have kept my byline and everything else in place. Just goes to show about anything can happen.

[jak]

As long as your byline was included in the document purchased, it should not be omitted. Otherwise it is a copyright infringement. You were right to contact support, although I have found that this doesn't always mean they are able to deal with it.

[Jaye]

Yes, J.A. - this has happened to me a few months ago - just once as far as I know. I did contact support about it but nothing changed. I was tempted to leave a snotty message in the comments box on the blog, but I thought it would look pretty unprofessional for both myself and CC if it was a genuine mistake on the customer's part. So I just let it slide (although now that you've reminded me of it I've gone back to check his blog and my article is still sitting there with his name attached to it and now I'm fuming again!)

Like you, I'm not really sure what the right course of action is. If CC doesn't handle these matters then perhaps a polite note to the customer gently alerting him of his 'mistake' might resolve the issue?

[J. A. Young]

I think I just need to stay on top of it more...if it turns into a problem for me I'll just price usage as high as full rights:) I'd also prefer not to deal with the customer on this directly--CC probably has a form message they can send off as well as the contact info. It does have to be addressed though--clients need to abide by the rights that they purchase or upgrade their rights if they want to make changes to the article or remove author's name. I tend not to sell a ton of usage rights, but I do plan to do some searching over the week to make sure I'm not getting cheated out of full rights $ --JA

[LMills]

Before I started selling for full rights only, I had this byline issue all the time. Now, I'm happy to sell one time, give up my byline and earn a fair payment for the work.

CC is great at intervening, if you can stay vigilant and troll the Web for your articles. Joining copyscape has helped me and it's cheap.

Linda