Legal Question in Intellectual Property in Massachusetts

lible tampering by newspaper editor

Hello...I recently wrote an article for the school newspaper. I submitted it and found that, upon its publication, it had been severely edited. The deletion of material is not what concerns me. What does is that there was about 25% of material added to what i wrote. i never saw this new material and i certainly would not have approved its publication. the article was printed with my name only under its title. Do i have any recourse against the newspaper?


Asked on 9/30/02, 6:05 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Lawrence Graves Coolidge & Graves PLLC

Re: lible tampering by newspaper editor

This is infuriating when it happens (it's happened to me), but the editorial guidelines and/or submission agreement that governs your submission most likely gives broad latitude to the editors to hack your work to pieces and publish something nonsensical under your by-line. You aren't likely to get anywhere by threatening legal action against the school and/or editors of the school paper. You can write a letter to the editor (they might even print it) complaining about the changes made, and you can complain to the faculty advisor of the paper about the process (might do more good). You can also decline to write any further articles unless you have an opportunity to review and approve the edited version prior to publication (this is what I do for professional journals). Best wishes,

LDWG

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Answered on 10/01/02, 10:17 am


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