Re: Editorial Issue

**J* E* M* S* <h*@sbcglobal.net>**

Hi, Lorraine -- you don't say if you have a contract with the newspaper. If there's no contract the copyright remains with you. I think C.L.'s suggestion is great...I will tell you that I did give The Indianapolis Star/Gannett rights to republish my columns without additional compensation if I could keep the copyright, and the Star agreed. At the time, I was hoping to syndicate the column simultaneously in other Indiana papers, which never happened. But it does allow me to publish my columns at the hoosiergardener.com early in the day of when they appear in the paper.

Still, even with the contract, it's messy. My contract allows for one-time use of the photos and I frequently see them show up in other Gannett publications or to illustrate features that I'm not involve with. I bill them for each photo I find and the Star pays. A bigger issue is that people can buy photos that run with stories off of the Indy Star's Website...sometimes my photos are offered for sale. I call the photo editor and tell him he can't do that. At one point, he asked if I could come down and id all my photos so they'd know not to sell them. I told him it was his job to make sure it doesn't happen, not me. I was so pissed...for crying out loud the Star and Gannett are HUGE media companies they should figure out how to keep track of this stuff so they are not breaking agreements and using photos (or stories) without permission.

Please keep us posted.

jems

____________________
Jo Ellen Meyers Sharp
Director, Garden Writers Association
hoosiergardener@sbcglobal.net
http://hoosiergardener.com
Phone: (317) 251.3261
P.O. Box 20310
Indianapolis, IN 46220-0310
Co-author, Indiana Gardener's Guide
Author, The Visitor's Guide to American Gardens
Great Garden Speakers

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