Re: unsolicited contributions

On Sun, May 14, 2000, Robert A. Baron <rabaron[_at_]pipeline.com> wrote:
>
> What does it mean when a journal or newspaper says that "all
> unsolicited contributions become the property of the journal"?
> Are they saying that all such contributors cede the copyright of
> their work to the journal. If so, nothing is spelled out in this
> transaction; what are the terms, etc. Is this a valid contract
> anyway? I see no "consideration" here except that the submission
> is being "considered" <g> for publication. This kind of deal seems
> to have nothing going for it. Does it mean that an author trying
> to sell a story, can only submit it to one journal and then loses
> his copyright? Or am I misunderstanding the meaning of the original
> phrase?

In my experience this phrase means only that the physical copy will not be returned; it does not, not would it be sufficient to, transfer the copyright to the journal.

--Barbara Friedman
  <bfriedman[_at_]mdbe.com> Received on Tue May 16 2000 - 16:38:10 GMT