I never thought being published would piss me off (well, I did have one awfully disappointing experience with a certain alternative magazine in Slovenia) but it just has because everything regarding this particular publication was done the wrong way.
I'm not sure where or when it started or how exactly it happened. I remember having a conversation around the beginning of the year with the person whom I considered a friend and who happens to be the president of the Haiku Club of Slovenia in which she mentioned something about being in touch with the editor of Shamrock Haiku Journal who wanted to showcase Slovenian haiku and that she suggested the authors who should be represented, including me. So I expected to be contacted by either of the two to agree on the selection of the haiku or at least to be asked permission to use my work (which I would gladly oblige). Nothing happened.
Turns out - and I only discovered that recently - that the issue she was talking about had already been published in December 09, meaning before she told me about it. And when I looked in, I was shocked. There were five of "my" haiku published, only I didn't recognise any of them. After some investigation it dawned on me they were all - every single one of them - taken from my haiku/haiga blog and rewritten without permission. Not a single one contained my exact words. And the editor had the effrontery to add the work was "translated" by him.
I was furious. In fact, I still am! I mean, I am not a native English speaker but I am convinced my English is not so poor as to not know what I am writing about or what I am trying to convey, and thus far I haven't had other people complaining that they didn't understand me (having said this, I am aware that my grammar is not perfect and I lack in vocabulary to some extent). The work posted in the blog has always been raw and unedited and I would sometimes continue working on pieces I thought needed editing to be improved but mostly they were left as posted. So, who does this guy think he is to have the right to twist and rewrite my work without ever consulting me - the rightful author. I am open to suggestions but I alone have the right to decide whether the change would benefit the work or not and approve it or not.
And if somebody else (namely the woman representing the Slovenian haiku - and she was the intermediary in that other disappointing experience as well) took the right to decide on my behalf what somebody is entitled to do or not, then I'm through with them. I do not need Slovenian haiku, Slovenian haiku needs me. And they have just lost me! For good!
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5 comments:
A letter to the magazine editor might be warranted. And btw, if I didn't know you weren't a native English speaker, I wouldn't readily figure it out from your prose. You have made amazing strides in the three years (?) I have known you and your command of my native language dazzles me and often leaves me envious. I very much concur -- you do not need the likes of them, and they will be worse off wothout you.
Susan and I had an email discussion just yesterday about this very subject. With the advent of the internet it is almost an impossibility to protect one's content. There is so little you can do unless you want to sue them. But who has the money for that. You can take your blog private and that would put some stop to it. It is a sad day when people don't respect others work. I think you need to let them have it Juliana/Polona style myself. I would fire off a letter threatening them with everything they own for doing what they did. You and I have talked about this with pictures and watermarking them. Nothing is full proof sadly. There is just nothing much unless you want to take them on in court that you can do I don't think. Send a letter is where I would start. And by the way, I would have never known you weren't English when I first started reading your blog. It's Excellent. Many times much better than mine LOL :)
this is a touchy subject and it could be discussed on and on.
these guys have violated my rights, but how could i ever prove my case?
i've considered writing a letter to both the editor and the other woman (after this i can't call her a friend anymore) and demand a public apology. i guess that's all t i could achieve, and even that is questionable. the whole thing happened more than 3 months ago and that's about as long as the issue has been up, so i'm late with a response already - which is the main reason i don't want to rush things a the moment.
thank you both for your input, it is much appreciated :)
In my view, there is no good reason for not giving proper credit.
Additionally, I don't understand altering creative works of any kind if chosen for promotion. Would anyone change the colors in a Picasso?
thank you or your opinion, christopher. well, i'm not a picasso no will i ever be but that still doesn't mean i can be treated like garbage...
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