He Say's It's Not Mine

December 4, 2010 @ 2:17pmnbmanix says:
A former friend has "fired" me from writing for his online magazine. We never signed paper work and as I reviewed books and interviewed people, he would pay me for them. Now he has told me that I can't re-publish any of my writing because he owns it and I would have to buy it back from him.

Is this true? Like I said, there was no paperwork signed and I was via PayPal.
December 13, 2010 @ 1:54pmJanetCroft says:
The original work was copyrighted by you when you fixed it in a tangible medium. If you signed no agreement, I don't see how your former friend could claim you signed your rights over to him. You may need to talk with a lawyer, though, for help with this. But this is a reminder to ALWAYS have a written contract or agreement in cases like this. Google SPARC Addendum for a good model of what to look for. What you want to do is only sign away rights for the specific use you're agreeing to and retain all other rights.
December 16, 2010 @ 9:36amksmith says:
Your friend might think that, because he paid you, he owns the copyright in the works you produced. That is a common mistake. Simply paying someone to produce a copyrightable work does not turn it in to a "work made for hire." As Janet says, unless there is a signed agreement, the chances are very good that you own the works.

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