Rules and Un-Regulations

After my initial shock, I thought it was just a misunderstanding, and perhaps, it would be fine to have the poem somewhere else, bad formatting, et al.

Just out of interest, I decided to peruse the rules and regulations that I had been sent via link to again.  Oh, look, I found something in the Submissions page that may be very important...

I thought, yes, that looks fine, I do not mind supporting a peer writing community, as long as I am informed where it would pop up in advance.  Come to think of it, I had not been informed of anything. No posts or emails. Please bear in mind that I had not even submitted in the first place.

As I read further down, I came across something which is this time, just important:


This looks the same as before... Perhaps there is an assumption that everyone has a short attention span...  Oh wait, there are more lines attached to this one, which were not in the last set.

I draw the line at the right to edit poems. My poem could be renamed 'How I cured my gonorrhoea' without my right to refuse. The right to place Poems (sic) in collections and competitions does not sound right either. How do you enter a poem into a competition without the author's consent? How many collections will the poem be in? All of them? 

Oddly, I also found a separate Disclaimers and Rights Reserved page at the end of the document which states:

One time? Intended use? How does this correlate with the right to place poems in multiple collections?  Intended use, as far as I could see, was not defined.  If you look back at the earlier screenshot, you will notice that it changes usage from 'Poems' to 'Poem'.  Why is this important?  Because it can be interpreted that the author's work can be placed...

Poem (singular).  Collections and competitions (plural).  This effectively implies one poem in multiple uses, not one-time as shown above.

In short, the submission rules contradict themselves and make little sense.  In the least, it is shoddy cut-paste editing, perhaps over an older version of the rules.  At the worst, the author may lose the ability to retain the value of their writing.  There is no mention of ongoing discussions with authors about the use of their work. All the potential benefits seem to be on the publisher's side. My opinion is, when in doubt, opt out.

Oh, by the way, all of the above 'rights' are likely to be void if the author is underage.  This was not mentioned in the submissions section.

And so, given the above-mentioned issues, I decided to contact the person to decline the poem usage (again).

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