Protect your intellectual property

When it comes to intellectual property, there is only one exception to the rule that everything you create belongs to you: Work for hire.

When you sign the oDesk Marketplace Agreement (along with other freelance board agreements), you are giving up the rights to everything you create, and it becomes property of the buyer – all work produced while working through oDesk is considered work-for-hire products. They belong to the buyer.

However, this only applies if you are actually hired.

Writers shouldn't write for free

One of the biggest complaints I read about on the oDesk Community Forums is how a "buyer asked for original article samples, now it's published on their website, and they didn't pay me for it!"

There's a common misconception among buyers, and people in general, that because they ask you to do something for them, it becomes theirs for the taking. This is definitely not the case. Until you are hired, the buyer has no right to use your work.

However, if – for whatever reason – you provide original works to a buyer and the buyer doesn't compensate you, you do have options (after I say, I told you so).

Deal with getting duped

When you create something for a buyer without having that binding contract, it belongs to you. Whether it is articles, designs, photographs, etc, rights do not transfer to the buyer until they hire you.

What does this mean?

This means when a buyer steals your creation (yes, when), you do have legal recourse – it's called the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.

DMCA isn't just about music

Unless you've been living under a rock, you've probably heard of DMCA in the news – with the RIAA and MPAA going after filesharers. You've probably also thought to yourself, "what a crock of s***" when reading about the mega-media-conglomerates as well.

But, the DMCA wasn't just created to be abused by the record labels.

It can also protect you when a shady buyer runs off with work you created when not in a work-for-hire contract.

So what can you do?

Simple request for removal: Often, people just don't know that what they're doing is wrong. Sometimes, they know very well what they're doing. Whether your work was taken though ignorance or intent, it can often be resolved by sending a simple, semi-formal letter requesting removal, attribution, or compensation for your work.

Cease and desist order: If they do not respond after a full week, you can send a formal C&D. Before you send a C&D, however, you need to establish ownership of your work. If you typed your article in MS Word, you can print off the document history. Keep all email correspondence with the other party and print them off including the email headers, which show server IPs and timestamps. Once you have all of your information, you can prepare your cease and desist order using the following links:

Cut off their search exposure with DMCA: If all else fails, and you still don't want to (or can't afford to) hire a lawyer, hit them where it hurts – get google to ban them. Now, in order to effectively get a site banned from any search engine, you have to be able to prove that you are right (this is actually true in any circumstance, really). You can read up on some of the major search engine's policies here:

Just don't do it

The quickest way to prevent your work from being stolen is to actually have it stolen. Once you've been the victim of intellectual property theft, you'll learn very quickly not to put yourself in that situation to begin with!

To some degree, it's understandable that buyers want to be absolutely sure they hire the perfect candidate…however, when a buyer questions your refusal to offer them 100% original content as a "sample" (especially if you can provide them with existing, relevant samples), there's a higher-than-average chance you're setting yourself up to get scammed if you follow through with it.

Remember: prevention is protection!