copyright intellectual-property travel
Freelance writer&#39;s article with biography completely signed away?
<p>I have been accepted to publish on a large English-speaking site. Among their submission guidelines, I found that I would agree to give away:</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>[..] a royalty free right to reproduce, publish, distribute, and write derivative texts (as well as translations and adverts) and the right to <strong><em>use your name, likeness or biography</em></strong> as well as publish information about you [..]</p>
</blockquote>

<p>I have never seen this before? This essentially means that my name could be plastered all over the web, wherever they see fit to publish my article, translated or not.</p>

<p>And how am I supposed to interpret <strong><em>likeness</em></strong> in the statement above?</p>

<p>Is this really legal?</p>

<p>As an aside, I have been writing online for over 15 years.</p>

<p>Your input on this is highly appreciated.</p>

<p>&quot;Likeness&quot; would refer to anything that looks like you, such as a photograph, a sketch, or sculpted figurine. This waiver is necessary in light of the legal concept of &quot;personality (publicity) right&quot;, whereby someone cannot without permission use your &quot;facts&quot; commercially, e.g. for advertising. So they could plaster away, if it suited them. You don't say what level of information they have about you e.g. have you sent them a picture, so if you're not happy with your face being used online, you can decline to provide a picture (unless you are required by the TOS, terms of service, to do so).</p>
<p>We are only here to address legal questions, not ones about how common a business practice is, but this is not a surprising condition for a publishing release.</p>
