Freelance Writer Tip #1 : Version Piracy
I posted earlier today that I’ve always been paid for my writing… and that is still true as far as the circumstance which prompted that article are concerned,… but it is not completely true. Version Piracy has gotten me a few times, before I was aware of what was happening.
Not every employer who is asking for a re-write is up to this scam, which is more prevalent than you might expect with freelance writers.
The way this scam works is the customer asks for a set of articles, let’s say 5 of them, on a topic… let’s say health care for the elderly. You bid them out at $20 a piece, he accepts the bid and you start to work.
As you should do, with a set of over three articles in a request, you post them as you finish them, so the client can read them over — this way you can invoice as soon as you are done with the last one– saves review time.
After reading all five, the clients says, “I really like them, but can you re-write these two? Using a more friendly voice?”
You say, “sure” because if they are not what the client wants, then you are not going to be paid. So you re-write them, using a friendlier voice and post them. He likes those, and now he would like the other three written with the same style. Since it isn’t much effort, and he seems to be happy, you re-write the other three.
Re-writing is not uncommon. Most people, you will find, don’t really know what they want, but they are very clear on what they don’t want, so getting one or two re-write requests is normal.It also works out in the long run, because now you have a clear idea of what the client is looking for, so future re-writes will be uncommon.
Now, if all is above board, everything is done and the client pays you. Thus ends the project. — However, if it is not above board, the client now has a set of 10 articles, having only paid you for 5. By law, (the DMCA), he is only allowed to use the 5 articles he paid for, not the full set of 10.
How to protect yourself :
1) always post to the service you are working with (i.e. Guru.com). Never send versions of an article to the client via Email, or post them directly to the blog, before you post the version to the service message board or work-room. Some clients will have you post to the blog directly, or some other CMS they have on their web site. This is fine, just make sure that you post the article to the service first, and then to the blog. If a re-write is asked for, note in the service posting area, that this is version is a re-write, and that it will be posted to the blog, removing the other version.
2. Use Copyscape.com to check for your previous version periodically. To do this, post the previous version to your own blog, use copyscape.com to check for duplicates out there, and then remove it from the blog. Do this periodically over the year. I do it once every two months or so.
If you find that first version out there, bill the client for it, telling him that he has not paid for the use of that version. Send the invoice straight through guru.com and let the guru.com people know exactly what you are doing. If the client has already used it, put it out on one of his other web sites, or even the same one, he has to pay you for it. There is no negotiation.
Re-writes and versions are part of the playing field, no matter how well you write, people are going to ask for you to alter, edit or re-write something eventually. It’s no big deal, but don’t let someone work you for free. The DMCA is a very large bat, and it only has to be swung once, in cases like this … read my previous article for more information on that aspect of the world.
Why does he want the other versions? With the DMCA being such a heavy bat swinging over his head — seriously, the guy is risking loosing his web site, his Adsense and other affiliate accounts, loosing his guru.com account, basically his entire business is going to be washed down the drain if you push this, so — why is he doing this? Why is it so common?
It is common because of certain beliefs in SEO practices. Content that is similar, and linking to each other from different web sites, increases the PR of the web sites. This bad client is risking both existing sites on the chance that he is going to gain a higher listing in the search engines. If he is right, and it pays off, he might earn as much as $10k extra a month, depending on the web site and the venue.
So, it is the same-old why… greed.
Don’t let it happen at your expense.
