Copywright

[Hellion]

I don't quite know where to put this question so here's hoping. I recently 'googled' my name and was directed to a site called 'Your memories' where I found an article I wrote for a company magazine celebrating memories of the millenieum. I was unaware this article was on this site and it is marked as 'copywright your memories'. I have not given my permission for this article to be used. Whilst I don't believe the man who owns the site is making any money from it I'm wondering where I stand with regard to copyright and what rights I have for my work used without my permission.

[DOB]

I would check the contract you had with the company magazine. They may own the copyright to your article in a similar way that pharaceutical companies own the rights to research done by scientists in their employment.

[Pinotage]

Write to the website owner. He should be able to demonstrate he has copyright permission or withdraw the item.

[andy hughes]

If you wrote your article for a compnay magazine, and your article was written as part of your normal duties, then the chances are that the copyright rests with your company, as publishers, and is theirs, rather than yours, to use as they wish. The only way the copyright belongs to you is if you have supplied it your company with a written contract specifying 'first rights only' which allows them to publish it once, after which the copyright reverts to you, and you are entitled to any fees generated by its re-use.

[WaldoMcFroog]

If you wrote the article as a part of your work, it is likely that you will be deemed to have assigned certain rights to your boss. If you wrote it outside of what would be considered your job, then you have retained full copyright.

In a recent briefing about copyright, we were told that the best you can do is write to the person and ask them to remove it, since they are infringing your copyright. If you really want, you can back this up with a legal letter, but this will cost a reasonable amount which you will not be able to recoup. If you believe they are exploiting your copyright to make money, you have a right to that money. Regardless, once you have made them aware of your copyright, they are subsequently liable for any exploitation that occurs. Don't forget, any legal action is liable to be expensive and probably not worth it. You also need to check whether the magazine to which you submitted the article had a clause in which you volunteered to give up your copyright.

[Hellion]

Thanks for all your answers they are very useful. The article was actually NOT part of my working brief. It was a one off publication of memories of the millenium and I'd written the piece a couple of years prior to submitting it. There is a contact email address so I will go down that road I think. I don't actually mind the piece being on the site it doesn't seem to be money making and it seems genuine I was just puzzled how they could claim copywright.

[vittoria]

Another point: if the piece is in anyway defaced/abridged or poorly presented etc., you have author's moral rights to prevent the work being so treated. This is quite separate from copyright. On the subject of copyright, finding the copyright owner takes time and money, so that website probably published thinking they would settle with the copyright owner if and when the owner contacted them. It is a good idea to write and inform them that you own the copyright (as I gather you are going to do) as it may make money in future even if it is not now, and you may wish to be in a position to receive fees then.