5 Common Ways Freelance Writers Get Scammed

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Ever since I started writing at Plagiarism Today and especially since I started this column, I’ve been hearing a lot from freelance writers who have been scammed or otherwise victimized by unscrupulous clients. Though the good news is that such bad clients are very rare in the big scheme of things, they are common enough that almost every freelancer, if they remain active long enough, will run into one or two over the course of their career.

So how do you avoid being taken advantage of as a freelance writer. As we discussed previously, clients have the playing field tilted to their advantage on most legal issues. As such, litigation isn’t often practical in these matters.

This means that the best way to protect yourself from these scams is to learn what they are and not step into them in the first place. [Read more…]

6 Tips for Avoiding Freelance Writing Scams

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Last week, we talked about 5 Common Ways Freelance Writers Get Scammed, nearly all of which centered around ways that unscrupulous clients attempt to get work from their writers without paying them.

However, knowing what the scams are isn’t terribly important without an understanding of how to avoid them. Unfortunately, even though all of the tricks have the same premise and outcome, nuances in how they are executed makes it so that there’s no single “magic bullet” for avoiding them and most of what it takes to avoid such scams is keeping a good, clear head at all times.

That being said, there’s still a lot that you can do to avoid freelance writing scams and, specifically, here are six very smart steps you can take today to ensure that it doesn’t happen to you. After all, every writing job unpaid is money out of your pocket, time out of your day and, possibly, food off of your table.

It’s best to get wise now rather than learn a hard lesson later. [Read more…]

5 Legal Questions to Ask Before Turning in An Assignment

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Turning in an assignment is the goal of pretty much every freelancer. It’s the moment where they can send their invoice, collect payment and, generally make a living. If you don’t reach this point regularly, you’ll likely soon find yourself looking for another career.

That being said, the moment you turn in your assignment is also something of a point of no return. Once you send the email, share the Google Doc or otherwise turn in what you have completed, you’ve not only submitted that work for revenue, you’ve also distributed it to a third party, an important step legally and it is generally the final step before the work is sent out to the much broader public.

As such, before you click “submit”, it’s worthwhile to take a moment, evaluate your work and make sure that you don’t find yourself in any legal trouble for your work.

After all, the last thing you want is for something you submit to come back and bite you and/or your client after it’s published online. With that in mind, here are five questions you should ask every time you get ready to submit a new article, just to make sure you’re on the right side of the law. [Read more…]

3 Grim Legal Realities Freelancers Need to Accept

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Barbed Wire ImageIn an ideal universe, the law is there to protect both parties in a contract equally. The freelancer and the client would both have guards to prevent the other from doing something unscrupulous or somehow taking advantage of the other.

Of course, in an ideal universe, justice would be free, it would be immediate and it would never make any mistakes.

Unfortunately though, we don’t live in a perfect world and, in many regards, that legal playing field is very much tilted against the freelancer. Not only do clients, typically, have more money but the global nature of the Web and, at times, the laws themselves only serve to make things worse.

On that note though, here are just some of the grim realities that our imperfect system has created and what they mean for you as you try to earn a living selling your writing. [Read more…]

Be Contract Smart: Copyright Terms to Know

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One thing nearly every freelance writer is going to have to do is sign a contract. Contracts, when written well, protect both the freelancer and the client by avoiding any confusion and preventing anyone from giving up any rights that they didn’t intend.
But as necessary and as useful as contracts are, they are often filled with terms that can cause confusion. Many freelancers, intimidated either by the size or the seeming complexity of their contracts often just sign them with little more than a cursory glance. This is a poor move that can cause a freelance to sign a bad deal with no legal recourse against it.

This is especially true when it comes to copyright, an already confusing area of law made even more so by the terms and conditions of many contracts. As such, you have to arm yourself with at least basic knowledge of copyright facts. [Read more…]

5 Simple Legal Mistakes Freelancers Commonly Make

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Mousetrap pictureFor a freelance writer, there is a lot of legal ground to cover. Copyright, trademark, privacy, libel and contract law are just some of the areas any freelancer needs to be familiar with to ensure that their rights are protected and they stay on the right side of the law.

The reason is that, in addition to signing deals and getting payment for a service, you are creating content that will be distributed to a global audience. This puts a lot of responsibility on you and everything you right to be accurate, non-infringing and non-invasive.

Still, we are all human and we all make mistakes. Combine that with the fact that many writers don’t fully understand the law or are misled by misconceptions, there is a lot of potential for danger.

With that in mind, here are just some of the more common legal mistakes freelancers made and, more importantly, how to avoid them.

1. Using Google to Find Stock Images

More and more writing contracts are asking writers to locate images to go along with their posts. Certainly not a challenge, but some freelancers use Google Image Search to find the images they are going to use.

Unfortunately, the vast majority of images in Google are copyright protected and are not available for use in such a manner, at least not without paying for a licensing fee.

To make matters worse, the stock photo industry has been on a very aggressive campaign against copyright infringers, and have threatened tens of thousands of sites over the past few years.

Grabbing the wrong photo could easily cost you more than a job, it could cost you thousands of dollars in settlement costs.

How to Avoid It: Use a free stock photo site such as MorgueFile or Stock.XCHNG. You can also look for Creative Commons-licensed images so long as you ensure your client provides proper attribution.

2. Working with a Bad Contract or No Contract

I discussed the dangers of working without a contract in a previous post but the risks bear repeating.

Whenever you write for someone without a contract, the terms of the agreement are not set in stone and, as a result, if there is a dispute the courts have to look at other conversations between you to find out what both sides intended. As such, you may find yourself giving away rights that you never actually meant to and you also have to go through a lot more hassle to find the boundaries.

However, a bad contract can be just as bad, if not worse. If you sign a contract without reading it, you can give away all rights to a work when you didn’t intend and have no real recourse as it was something you agreed to freely.

How to Avoid It: Always work with a contract and always review them carefully. You don’t have to be a legal expert to read your own contracts but, if you have any questions, definitely put it before someone else for a review.

3. Committing Self-Plagiarism

Self plagiarism isn’t illegal in the sense that it’s copyright infringement. After all, the person who would be suing you for infringement would be yourself.

However, most writing contracts, both written and implied, state that there is a need for the work to be original. If you simply turn in something that was written before, it would be a breach of those terms.

Think about it in this context. If the client wanted something you had written previously, they would have requested to buy the license to the work, not asked for a new assignment to be completed. In that context, simply handing in your old work could be a breach of contract and could be very costly in terms of your reputation.

How to Avoid It: Self-plagiarism is acceptable if your client says its ok but always ask and get clearance before reusing old work. Otherwise, you may find yourself at odds with them fast.

4. Being Defamatory

Defamation (libel and slander) might seem to be easy to avoid, but it is rarely so easy.

Most people believe that if you simply stick to the facts of a case you can easily avoid an allegation of libel. However, for example, if you quote someone out of context you can be sued for libel with a good chance that they will win.

If you do freelance editing you can also create a problem by editing a piece to make someone say something they didn’t intend. Even it being an accident may not be a complete defense because, unless the person is a public figure, they don’t have to prove any malice to have a claim.

How to Avoid It: Always speak the truth and stick to what you can prove. Also, remember that opinion can never be libelous though be careful when presenting facts in a way that may give people the wrong impression about what was said and meant.

5. Invading Privacy

There are many ways freelancers can unwittingly invade someone’s privacy, the easiest is through images. If you take a photo of someone without model release, use of their image in an article, especially if it’s on a site that promotes a product or service, could be a misappropriation of their image.

However, freelancers can also find themselves in hot water for publicly disclosing private facts the public has not legitimate interest in. What constitutes private data can vary from case to case and often depends on what has already been made public, but generally it isn’t wise to disclose might be considered embarrassing, isn’t already public and isn’t newsworthy.

How to Avoid It: Always either work with a legitimate stock photo agency for your photos of people or ensure that you get model releases when using photos where individuals could be identified. When writing about people, make sure to talk about information that is already public, preferably they disclosed by the subject, and don’t publicly post anything that they might see an an invasion, especially if it isn’t truly newsworthy.

Bottom Line

Freelance writing is, quite literally, a legal minefield at times. Fortunately, if you approach the industry with honest intentions and work on understanding the law, most of the major pitfalls can be easily avoided.

But even with that knowledge, many unwittingly step into situations that can get them in a lot of trouble and, though nothing comes of most legal goofs, it only takes one angry person with money and motivation to file a suit and completely ruin your life.

With what’s at stake, it’s worth taking a moment to understand the lay of the land just so you don’t walk into any traps.

Your Questions

Have a question about the law and freelance writing? Either leave a comment below or contact me directly if you wish to keep the information private. This column will be determined largely by your suggestions and questions so let me know what you want to know about.

Disclosure

I am not an attorney and nothing in this article should be taken as legal advice.

5 Steps to Handling Deadbeat Clients

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If you do enough freelancing, it will happen soon enough. Someone is not going to pay you.

Whether you do writing, design or doing any other freelance work on the Web, eventually you will get a deadbeat client and it is best to be prepared for that eventuality than to stress over it when it happens.

Though there are many steps you can and should take to mitigate the effect of and reduce the number of such incidents, an article for another day, today we’re going to focus on your rights when you’ve done the work and the other person refuses to pay. [Read more…]

7 Reasons Why You Should Always Have a Written Contract

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One of the thorniest and most uncomfortable issues freelancers routinely face is the issue of contracts when it comes to getting jobs.

Part of it is because, as freelancers, we often take jobs with people know, trust and are good friends with. Other times it is because clients have urgent needs and there may not be enough time to hammer out a formal contract before the deadline passes.

However, this is almost always a bad idea. Taking jobs or receiving work without a contract is a grave disservice to both sides. While contracts may slow things down and cause brief moments of tension in the short term, they can help things run much more smoothly and perventing much bigger problems down the road.

If you’re taking jobs without a contract, especially on recurring gigs, you may be setting yourself up for big problems down the road and, if you’re a client reading this, the lack of a written deal can come back and bite you too. Need a reason? Here are seven good ones. [Read more…]

Fired! Do’s and Don’ts for the Recently Laid Off or Let Go

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No one likes to be fired. If you were recently laid off or let go, you’re probably very angry or upset about losing a client. You may even think your client was unfair in his dismissal. Your first reaction might be to fire off an angry missive or trash your former client on a public forum, but this isn’t the best recourse. Before you act in a matter you might possibly regret Consider these do’s and don’t.

Don’t

  • Send off an angry email: Always let your first, angry reaction pass. If you have to fire off a nasty missive, do so and then delete, but certainly don’t send. Burning bridges is never a good idea. You might not be a good fit for your former client’s project but he may possibly recommend you to someone else. He might also move to another company that hires freelancers. If you made an unprofessional impression, he might remember.
  • Publicly trash your former client: Potential clients may see this and pass on the opportunity.
  • Put all the blame on your former client: Unless it was a budget cut, there’s a good reason for your termination. Listen to all of your client’s feedback and take it all under consideration for future clients.
  • Talk smack about your client to every freelancer you know: Look your client didn’t work out for you, but that doesn’t mean other freelancers aren’t a good fit for the gig. Bashing former clients all the time mostly makes them uncomfortable.
  • Take it personally: You may feel it’s personal but it’s not. The reasons may feel personal, but they’re not. Firings are business. Your client is doing what he has to do to protect his interests.  Don’t let negativity consume you and don’t let it hit your confidence or self esteem. Tell yourself it’s business and move on.

Do

  • Say “thank you” for the opportunity: You may not feel grateful after having your contract terminated but professionalism is the key to a successful career. Say “thank you” and move on.
  • Be angry: No one is telling you not to feel angry after being laid off but use that passion for something productive. Either do your own thing or find new clients.
  • Reflect on this situation: Think about the reasons your client terminated your contract and what you can do better next time around.
  • Make a plan: What will you do to replace the loss of income? Make a plan and take action.
  • Turn it into something positive: Everything happens for a reason. Perhaps you were let go because you were destined to better things. Turn your negative energy into something positive and let it motivate you to move on to bigger and better things.

When a client terminates a contract, it sucks. No one likes to be fired. Dwelling on negativity or letting it consume us only leads us to take actions we regret later. The last thing you want to do is burn bridges. Take the reasons you were let go into consideration and turn it into something positive. Find the clients and projects that are the right fit.

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