Hello,

I wrote two press releases for a client some time ago and she posted them on her website. I used my name on the contact information as I always did which was agreed upon with the client.

Fast-forward to the present: When new clients wanted to see samples of my writing, I would send a link to that client's site. Today I go to the look at the articles and my name has been removed from the contact information replaced by the client's name.

I know that the former client owns the presss releases I wrote but it is right to change the authorship? I suppose it is not illegal, perhaps just unethical.

What do you think? Can the authorship be changed just because the client owns the pieces I write for them?

Thanks,

Janine

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Janine, I am sorry that happened! I had written somethings for a former client......and they said that because it was written for them, they could change it to have their contact info on it. I don't think it is ethical but that is why I am not with that one anymore. I know it stinks!

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Rebecca Thompson
CLR Virtual Connection * fanTABulous fan pages

Hi Janine,
I am sorry that this happened to you. When you do work for a client, you expect at least to get credit for it. I don't have an answer for you but if it happened to me I would checkthis out for the next time. Here are 2 links that I think may be able to help.
1. Melanie Rembrandt at rembrandtwrites.com.
She is a publicist who does press releases.
2. Shannon Cherry at beheard.comezine.com
She was a former TV anchor who specializes in press releases.

Hoping this helps, please update us with what you find out. Thanks
Jo-Carole

I do believe that if you wrote it, your name should be on there but that's all. The rest of the contact information should be their information.

I have written several articles for clients and submitted them to article directories but I only put my name down as the author and everything else is about their business. If you put more than just your name, you are actually defeating the purpose of the press release and article because those who read it are going to visit your site and be reading your information not the person it was meant for.

For example one that I have written says:

Tracy Collins, marketing assistant for (name of business here) with a little blurb about their business and a link to their site.

Tracy Collins

Hi Tracy, I should have clarified...

The contact information on the release was my name, my site and my phone. The 'about the company' paragraph info was about the client's company with a link back to their site and a contact name there. I was the publicist at the time so my info was the contact info featured.

Both releases I wrote had all of my contact information removed and replaced with their own contact name and phone. Everything else remained the same.

The good thing is that I also posted these releases to the free websites online so that information hasn't been changed there. So I can refer new clients to those sites and from now on, that is what I will do.

But I was just annoyed that this client took credit for what I wrote. I don't work with them anymore. I suppose this thread was just a 'vent' because there is no legal recourse and making a stink about it isn't worth it to me. It was just a sneaky situation I wanted to share and one that I wouldn't do to someone else if the role had been reversed.

Janine

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Maybe I'm missing something here, but how many press releases do you see that is written by one company for another and the author is listed for all publications? If you are writing press releases for another and they are paying you, "ownership" is theirs. If you insist on requiring them to keep your contact info on it when it is published, you are taking away from the client. The client isn't paying you to market yourself, they are paying you to market them.

When I submit press releases to the media, only my contact information is listed for them to contact in case they have questions. When they publish it, there's no reference to my company anywhere since the news is about the client's company.

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Mary Hettwer
Hettwer Virtual Office

Mary,

I know that ownership is their own. I say that in my post. I am not insisting or requiring that anyone keep my contact information when it is published. As I mentioned in my post, it was the client who wanted me to place my contact information on the release as she wanted me to be the point of contact for the media. If she wanted another name placed in the contact information area, I would have done so. (Some clients want me to be the contact, so it looks like they have a publicist and others use a generic name such as 'media contact', while others ask me to use their own name, although not many for the latter.)

When I submit press releases to the media, my contact information is listed as the point of contact within the release. It is also listed in the event they have questions.

I'm not looking to market myself. My point is that if I write a release which is approved by the client, then I feel that the information should be left as it was intended. I have never seen anyone change information in an archived press release until this point. I am sharing this situation here on this forum.

Janine

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Hmmmm. Janine, your point is well taken. Still, there's a new ethic with the internet. It's all about writing, right? And pictures. And you can try to protect your content, but it's a pain to track it all the time. And you want your content featured in as many places as possible. And people will steal it.

Your story shows how you have to constantly go back to check links, because any number of things could have gone wrong!

I think, eventually, you're producing enough content that it actually doesn't matter to you what happens to it after you've published. You get your ROI from it, and then let it go.

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Mary H. Ruth/Virtual Writing & Communications
http://www.writingVA.com

Hi Mary Ruth,

Yes, I agree. The only reason that it did matter to me at the time was because I used to refer potential clients to the former client website as proof that I had written a release. That's how I noticed that the former client had made the contact info change.

I won't do that anymore, obviously. I have copies of releases in a portfolio now that I'll use as proof of writing samples. It just looked much more official when the writing samples appeared on someone else's site so that's why I did that. This had never happened before in the years I've written releases so it came as a surprise.

Live and Learn. - sigh -

Thanks for your replies.

Janine

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I don't think this was sneaky at all - this was someone who had wanted you to be the point of contact which is why she requested your info there. When you are no longer with her, it makes perfect "common sense" to replace the contact information with her own.

It would have been nice for her to leave it with you as the source, but if not implicitly agreed on, I personally can very easily see it not being a second thought, just not wanting to lose any potential contacts.

I would still use it on her site as an example of my work, I would just say "written under client name" or some such. It's just one example of many, your style will still show through.

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Cheryl O'Neil
Southern Orange County