Langdon,

  One option:  Use the same approach I did recently, and write to the cousin, something like:

  I've been busy and only now have  had the opportunity to go over the
  documents you sent "Client".  I thought the will transcriptions looked familiar, but it wasn't until I read the inserted comments I had included, that I realized those were my transcriptions.  Possibly,  you are unaware that transcriptions of wills and other documents are automatically accorded copyrights, and while I don't object to your using my transcriptions, I must, for professsional reasons, ask that you give credit to me anytime you distribute them or any of my research.  The preferred method of citations on wills and other document transcriptions, as recommended by the National Genealogical Society is to insert the words, "Transcription by name of transcriber.".

  Another option, would be to write "Client", and say something to the extent that  you just now noticed CT had included some of your research without crediting you for the transcriptions, etc. and that perhaps CT is not aware that professional courtsy --and copyright laws-- require that your work be credited to you when it is copied and distributed.  Gently --if possible-- let Client know that while the results of your research are his to do with as he pleases,  your reputation....

  Sorry, I'm bogged down here.  Need to know just what copyright laws protect a professional researcher who is working under a "retainer" agreement.  Let's see, who on one of the LVA mail lists would know?  Maybe Paul Drake. Do you want to post a query to  [log in to unmask]  and ask just what general rights a transcriber has, etc. or would you like me to?

  Joanne



Langdon Hagen-Long <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
    Thanks for the response, Joanne.  Yes, this is my favorite client of all time.   I've worked for him for 6 years, producing a report every month.   In addition to regular dependable income, which is great, he is also a very charming, pleasant person to work for.  [He would be very upset to know that I'm upset, which is one reason I hate to bother him with this.] He just received some bad health news, too.  He trusts me enough to let me just do whatever I feel I need to do.  I felt this report justified his faith in me.  But now it looks less like a "big deal".

  Whenever my client gets a report from me, he shares it with others.  Likewise, if this cousin, or others he is in touch with,  find something interesting, he sends it to me. This cousin was supposedly exploring the South Carolina part of the family, so I thought it was "safe" to work in Virginia for awhile, so that we didn't cross paths. Very shortly after I sent the client my report,  I received via snail-mail, a "report" that included my transcribed documents, as well as some other material that I'm sure was mine. [I can only prove CT's theft through the 2 sentences of 1 document.]

  I don't think my client realized anything amiss. Yes, and right now he probably thinks this woman is as capable as I am.  One sentence I added to the document connected this document to previous reserarch and the other sentence concerned something I needed to verify in the future.  Since my client had already seen the document in my report, he probably wouldn't re-read it in her report.   He probably wouldn't notice my sentences. He is not "detail-orriented", which is why he hires out the research.

  Of course, if she wasn't smart enough to realize that my sentences, enclosed in brackets, weren't part of the original document, and wasn't smart enough to remove them, she couldn't be smart enough to figure out the connections I made which she now claims she already knew.

  There is no doubt in my mind that I will see my work - the connections I made and analysis, printed word for word in one of her "essays" on the family. CT knew enough to add a citation to her report, citing a book of abstracts.  Maybe I'm just too irate to think straight, but that seems just too deliberate.  It just can't be an innocent mistake, can it?  I've tried to think of some way this could have been an innocent mistake, but I can't. I've given her the benefit of doubt before, and even tactfully asked her to add citations when using published material. Maybe I shouldn't worry about being tactful anymore - although I really liked the way you handled the other woman today.

  Another problem:  I suspect my client might be paying her for research she isn't really conducting.  I know my client is usually paying 2 or 3 genealogists at a time, for working on different problems.  He calls this woman a cousin, [maybe 4th or 5th] but she might also be paid for the research.  I've never felt that was any of my business.  But I'd hate to think he is paying her for my work. That is the kind of of mess that gives all of us, and the profession as a whole, a bad reputation.

  Well, maybe you are right. I should just approach the client, explain the situation [my "proof"], and ask that he not share my reports until we're "done".
  I really appreciate your comments.  I would love to know the end result of your CT's theft of your grandmother!   Did she take your work down?

  Thanks again.
  Langdon


  qvarizona <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
    Greetings, Langdon,

  You may be interested to know that I have not yet  heard back from the woman who recently contacted me, and on thinking it over, I have wondered if she knew who I was when she wrote.  The addresses for my webpages all include "qvarizona", which is my user name, and most of them also have the heading, "Jerry & Joanne's Southern Connection", OR, "Jerry & Joanne's Northern Connections.  While I was replying to her query, I wondered  if she --was her name Mabel?--   knew who I was, and deliberately  quoted me, assuming I'd know and take it as a compliment. Maybe she just forgot to use quote marks. It's that sort of question that provides  the reason I tried to be more tactful than I might be otherwise.   Unless I hear back from her, I always assume I offended her --with or without good cause.

   Before you do anything, you need to decide what outcome you're willing to live with?  From what you've written, it seems goal #1 is to not offend your client, and I assume that means you expect this client wants more research done, and that  you would like to be the one who does it for him.  Seem that if the client begins thinking his cousin is as capable as you are, then you lose, and it may be you have no choice but to address this openly with him.

   I need to think about what may or may not work for you in regards to your client and "Cousin Thief" (CT), but first,  I have questions:  How did you learn about CT stealing your material and passing it off --deliberately-- as her own work?   Did the client said something like, "Hey, look at this.  My cousin came up with the same data you did....", or did you find out some other way?  Is the client aware you know about the duplication of material?  This may be an odd question, but is the client aware that there is a duplication?   Do you insert a copyright icon on your work?

  Not sure where I'm going with this, or if I can be of any help, but happy to try.  Even as an amateur, I take my research and the reputation I've built over a number of years very seriously.    I've had the same sort of experiences you mention, mostly with dumb-dumb, wanna-be genealogists, one in particular who not only lifted  my work using  cut/paste then  published it word for word online, taking credit of course.  She was  actually dumb enough to include this line,  ". . .my Virginia grandmother, Julia Carruthers Humes...."  Needless to say,  Julia was MY grandmother, and of her four grandchildren, it's only I who am a genealogist.   The thief actually had the nerve to threated me with a lawsuit when I wrote her requesting she remove my material from her website.  Ugh!   So far, I'm  just  making comments without much thought following one reading of your letter.   may not be making sense, but perhaps it will give us both something to think about.

  Joanne

Langdon Hagen-Long <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
    Joanne,
  I read with amusement your very tactful way of dealing with someone taking credit for your work.  I wonder if I could trouble you to give me some advice.  I am a professional genealogist who has worked on a certain family for 6 years for one client. I am used to other clients, or usually their relatives, not giving me credit. My  favorite client of all time has shared my work with "cousins" on the net. I've seen my work show up in "essays by" one of these cousins regularly.  I'm pretty tolerant of that.  But the latest insult is too much!  This  cousin sent my client a report, using my research, and attributed "her" research to a published book.  The book is a collection of abtracts.  The report she sent my client contained complete transcriptions  - by me.  I transcribed from the microfilm of the originals, but added too sentences in brackets commenting on two things within the document. This cousin wasn't even smart enough to remove my sentences, but gave credit to herself and a
 book of abstracts.

  I understand and cooperate with my client's desire to share his work, on his theory that  50 heads are better than one.  But this is too much.  It seems to me to be a very deliberate theft of my work, re-typed my work from an snail-mail report just days after he sent her a copy. She immediately mailed it back to my client as her research, including a few items that I'm now sure also came from my work..

  I've thought about this for weeks now, and I just don't know how to respond. Should I confront her directly? I'm usually pretty direct, but I'm afraid that might offend my favorite client.  I've thought of informing my client first, but that seems a bit mean to the cousin-thief. I'm afraid my client won't understand the importance of this and will think I am being petty.  He is not a researcher himself, but prefers to pay others, so he might not understand.   I've been too angry to trust myself to respond in a logical way. I'm not sure I'm in the mood to be tactful!

  Would you mind taking a few minutes and giving me some advice about how I might respond?  I'd be ever so grateful.  I'm in Virginia Beach, but go to the archives in Richmond, Raleigh, and Columbia on a regular basis, as well as Charleston, SC. I'd be glad to make copies or do research in return. [I also "translate" old legal documents].

  If you are too busy right now, I understand, but would like you to know how impressed I was with your tact and kindness.

  Thanks

  Langdon Hagen-Long






qvarizona <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
  Here's link to John D. Rockefeller Jr. Library http://research.history.org/JDRLibrary.cfm
.....
By the way, when I read your query, the wording sounded familiar, and it took me minute to realize you used a direct quote from my own Gilmore genealogy report that is online. I'm glad someone read it, but I would have preferred knowing who wrote it without having to puzzle out why it sounded so familiar; senior moments, you know.

For info re. Thomas Rowland, his rifle and referral to George Washington, see http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/%7Eqvarizona/rowlandrifle.html

More questions about Rowland or Gilmore's? Write direct and I'll try and answer.
Joanne




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