Copyright

Folks in business of freelance writing for a living do more than just write. Sure, there are the interviews, filing, invoicing and other office tasks, but freelance writers also work hard on contract negotiations and copyright infringements. Sometimes these tasks seem to take up more time than the writing itself.

Here's the thing: just because a story is posted on the Internet doesn't mean it can be copied and reprinted someplace else.

It's very simple.

What most people don't realize is that before the last button was clicked and that story appeared on the World Wide Web, the writer and publisher likely went through a series of negotiations. And if they didn't they should have. An agreement should have been reached for fair payment for the work.

If I sell a story that's already been published someplace else, then it goes for less money. But if I write a story for one particular publication (called an "exclusive") and that publication is the first one to print it, well, they pay a higher price. Additional payment is due if publications are doing hard copy only, putting it on their website, storing it in their archives, translating the piece or planning to use the article in some way in the future, like a book. Publications can use articles in a variety of ways and each time it's used, the writer needs to be paid. After all, if it's good enough to print, it's good enough to pay for.

I've heard all of the arguments and all of the excuses. Top statements include how flattered I should be by the reprint, that they didn't know they weren't allowed to reuse an article without my permission or that if the article is on the World Wide Web, then it's public property.

None of these hold any water. The Canadian Copyright Act is law. My work is protected from being republished without my permission. Flattery does not pay the bills. Ignorance of the law is not an excuse.

Barbara Florio Graham, a freelance writer and media guru in the Ottawa area uses this brilliant analogy to explain reusing articles found on the web: I park my bike outside my house overnight, leaning it against the outside of the garage. You walk by and see it. You know it's not yours, but you also know that I'm not using it at the moment, so you take it for a ride. You know you shouldn't have taken in, but you do anyways. Overnight, you use my bike and then return it early the next morning.

I urge you not to take anything off of any website without the author's permission or permission of the website operator. It's not yours to take, even if you're just going to use it for a little while.

I should have been doing labels and links for this post and all of that fancy stuff, but I don't have the time right now. This is a subject I could go on for hours about, so I'm sure I'll have the chance to do that kind of stuff on another day.

Cheers,
Allison

Doggie Dementia

When friends ask us how old our dog is, we jokingly refer to him as our first born.

Dusty adopted us in the spring of 1993, right around now, come to think of it. We were married in October and knew we wanted to expand our family just a little bit. I hadn't had a dog since I was a pre-schooler. Dale had one growing up too, but not that we were settled in our own home, we decided to take on some responsibility. Just a little bit.

My office at the time was on the main floor of the house. In the winter, Dusty would spend his time under my desk. If he heard the approach of a snow plow on a stormy day, he would make a wild dash for the back door, race across the snow drifts and along the fence, barking as he chased the snowplow. I often wondered what he would do if he actually caught the plow.

During the summer, he would go outside when Dale left for work and spend the whole day lazing on the deck -- early mornings in the sun, late morning in the shade by the cedars and hot afternoons under the deck in a custom dug hole in the dirt to keep him cool.

Things changed a bit when Olivia was born. Doesn't it always for the dog? Remember Lady and the Tramp? They maintained a relationship of indifference unless food was involved, then Dusty became Olivia's best friend. They're pals, though. Same goes with Mark.

Since we've moved to Moncton, Dusty doesn't spend much time outside anymore. Our yard isn't as big. Snow plows aren't as easily accessible. He's not under my desk anymore because my office is in the basement and he finds the stairs hard on his back hips. He knows there's safety down here during a thunder storm, though, or when the wind is blowing hard.

When we purchased a tent trailer last summer, Dusty rediscovered his love of the outside. On most camping trips, we had to pick him up and carry him inside at night. He was happy to spend the entire day outside, lazing in the sun, sitting in the shade, walking through the woods or at the beach or curled up by the campfire.

Over the last few weeks, Dusty has started having accidents in the house. It doesn't happen every day, or even at the same time of day when it does happen. But it's been increasing in frequency. I've tried preventative measures, like putting him out and making sure he stays out, but that doesn't work -- 10 minutes after he's in, he's done it again.

Yesterday, I called the vet just to see what they thought and whether I should bring him in for a check-up. The vet told me that Dusty may have some kind of a parasite in his digestive system or he may be seeking attention, especially if we've had a major change in our house lately. Yes, we renovated our kitchen, but this started before that mess. Nothing else out of the ordinary at all. Then, the vet suggested something so shocking that I'm finding it funny -- Dusty may have Alheimer's disease!

I had no idea there was such a thing as doggie dementia. One of the symptoms is failure to respond to his name -- I thought he was just ignoring me! Other symptoms, like getting stuck in corners, is something I've seen Dusty do, but never realized exactly what it was he was doing. Accidents inside, even after he's just gone out, is another symptom.

Here are a couple of links: Doggie Alzheimer's Disease and CDS in dogs