Pasted below is the correspondence between myself and helium.com which took place after I decided to take my written work and move on to greener pastures.
Helium.com promises to pay on a pay-per-click method, but the writers do not know the means by which this method is calculated. Upon checking the box on a user agreement, the writer is giving Helium.com copyright to the content that the writer is posting. Helium.com can remove the writer from the site without giving reason, but WILL keep the writer's work posted indefinitely. The writer has then freely given the copyright to the the written material over to Helium without receiving payment. Helium.com will indefinely earn money from the work which the writer was not paid money for.
This is stealing.
The real questions may be; how legally binding is a website's Terms Of Service concerning copyright law? TOS can be changed, a check mark inserted and no one would be the wiser. Doesn't the giving over of one's copyright to a second party legally require a contract with a legal signature?
What I've pasted below are the e-mail exchanges which took place as I attempted to recover my belongings. If you are a serious writer, stay clear of Helium.com., for the act of posting an article is the act of relinquishing rights to that article. Without compensation.
For additional reading about Helium.com:
http://www.ivetriedthat.com/2007/09/01/review-of-heliumcom-update/
http://hubpages.com/hub/Heliumcom---Writing-Fun-or-Money
http://www.writersreviews.com/2007/06/heliumcom-is-it-worth-it.html
http://hubpages.com/hub/Heliumcom---Scam-Report
http://heliumsucks.com/board/index.php?PHPSESSID=e92bc79f33b15209ef3acd61a212d468&board=1.0
Herein lies the contents of the e-mails from myself to Helium.com:
Hello:
Please remove this article from the helium.com website. I am submitting the article to a publication.
Thank you,
-----Original Message-----
From: Content <content@helium.com>
To:
Sent: Mon, 19 May 2008 8:44 am
Subject: RE: Article removal please
Greetings,
Thank you for writing, but I am a little confused. Are you trying to Leapfrog/edit the poem and afraid that you will have 2 duplicate articles on the site or are you asking us to delete your article because you want to post it elsewhere?
Best Regards,
Sarah
From:
Sent: Mon 5/19/2008 6:42 PM
To: Content
Subject: Re: Article removal please
Sarah:
I am selling the article elsewhere. The publication accepts reprints but not simultaneous submissions, therefore, I must have the article removed from Helium. Much appreciated.
Thank you,
-----Original Message-----
From: Content <content@helium.com>
To:
Sent: Tue, 20 May 2008 8:22 am
Subject: RE: Article removal please
Greetings,
We are sorry to hear that you wish to delete an article. I wonder if you would be willing to tell me what in particular has led you to this decision. We do have certain regulations and for legal reasons we are bound to adhere to them. The primary issue in your case is that we are not allowed to remove articles once they have been submitted unless it infringes on our user agreement. This is spelled out in the user agreement that you have stated that you read and agreed to upon joining the site.
We do have a feature that allows our writers to edit or replace an article. This is called Leapfrog. By using Leapfrog, you are able to submit a replacement or an edit to an existing article that you have submitted. The Leapfrog article will be put into 3 ratings with the existing article you are trying to replace. If the community deems the new Leapfrog article better, the Leapfrog will replace the existing article. If the community decides otherwise, the existing article will remain. For more information about Leapfrog, please see the following from our User Guide: http://www.helium.com/user-guide/how-to-write-for-helium/how-to-edit-your-articles-using-leapfrog/
We also have a feature in which you can set up a pen name so that your personal name is not displayed with your articles on the Helium site. In order to do this, login to the site and go to My Helium: Account Settings and click on the pen name tab. In creating a pen name you will replace your first and last name as it appears with your work on the site. When someone clicks on your pen name they are taken to your About Me page. For more information about your Helium pages, please see the following from our User Guide: http://www.helium.com/user-guide/my-helium-pages/
--Team Helium
From:
Sent: Tue 5/20/2008 7:27 PM
To: Content
Subject: Account removal please
Please remove my entire account. I have enjoyed Helium, but am sending my articles out to publications.
http://www.helium.com/users/edit_show/393202
Thank you,
Greetings,
Thank you for writing in with your concerns.
If you would like to cancel your Helium account, please do the following:
1) Please ensure you are sending your request from the email address we have on file for your Helium account. We use your email address to confirm your identity, which is a security measure put in place for your protection.
2) Please email your request to help@helium.com, using the subject line “Cancel my Helium account.”
Please note that canceling your Helium account does not delete your Helium articles.
Thank you for your kind attention and understanding.
--Team Helium
From:
Sent: Thursday, May 22, 2008 7:02 PM
To: Helium Help
Subject: Delete all of my articles from Helium
How is it that canceling my Helium account will not automatically delete my Helium articles?
I would like all of my articles deleted from my Helium account as soon as possible.
Thank you,
Greetings,
We do have certain regulations and for legal reasons we are bound to adhere to them. The primary issue in your case is that we are not allowed to remove articles once they have been submitted unless it infringes on our user agreement. This is spelled out in the user agreement that you have stated that you read and agreed to upon joining the site.
We do have a feature that allows our writers to edit or replace an article. This is called leapfrog. By using leapfrog, you are able to submit a replacement or an edit to an existing article that you have submitted. The leapfrog article will be put into 3 ratings with the existing article you are trying to leap. If the community deems the new leapfrog article better, the leapfrog replaces the existing article. If the community decides otherwise the existing article will remain. To access this feature, go to your My Helium: My Articles page and click on the "leapfrog" wording next to the article you wish to improve upon. You are only allowed to have 20% of your total articles in a leapfrog status. When attempting to re-leap an article, you can only do this 7 days from the last leapfrog rating of the previous leapfrog attempt.
We also have a feature in which you can set up a pen name so that your personal name is not displayed with your articles on the Helium site. In order to do this, login to the site and go to My Helium: Account Settings and click on the pen name tab. In creating a pen name you will replace your first and last name as it appears with your work on the site. When someone clicks on your pen name they are taken to your About Me page. Have you entered the information you wish to have there? To get there go to My helium: About Me and update all pertinent information.
Above all, know that we are always here to help@helium.com
All the best,
Cindy Wester
From:
Sent: Thursday, May 22, 2008 7:02 PM
To: Helium Help
Subject: Delete all of my articles from Helium
How is it that cancelling my Helium account will not automatically delete my Helium articles?
I would like all of my articles deleted from my Helium account as soon as possible.
Thank you,
Cindy Wester:
It may be spelled out in the user agreement that you are not allowed to remove my articles from your web site. However, those articles are my property and I no longer wish to have my property posted on your web site. It is my understanding that the articles will be removed if they infringe on the user agreement, and you may classify the fact that I am no longer a willing participant in the website as an infringement on my, the user, agreement. You have no legal right to hold my property without my permission. I have, in writing, asked for the removal of my property from your web site and this alone should be reason enough for you to delete them.
I own all copyright to those materials, you hold no copyrights to them at all. I have signed no legal contract whatsoever which gives Helium.com the right to post my articles without my permission. I have officially withdrawn my permission. Infringement on the copyright laws is a crime. Helium.com has no official document on file which gives them rights to my work. Helium has no contract which I have signed. Helium has no rights to post my work.
Delete my articles.
-----Original Message-----
From: Helium Help <help@helium.com>
To:
Sent: Fri, 23 May 2008 4:57 am
Subject: RE: Delete all of my articles from Helium
Greetings,
I am sorry for the confusion here. It seems that you must have missed a critical part of the user agreement that you read and agreed to when you created an account. Specifically the following:
Grant of license: By submitting your content to Helium, you grant Helium (and any Helium successors-in-interest, subsidiaries, or parent companies), a worldwide, perpetual, irrevocable, transferable, non-exclusive, sub-licensable right and license to, in whole or in part, with or without attribution to you, use, copy, modify, edit, adapt, publish, publicly display/perform, translate, display, create derivative works from and/or license (or sell with your authorization) and/or distribute content posted to the Site. Helium’s rights to content you submit include the right to make editorial revisions to your content; to use in any way the materials you submit on the Helium website or in other Helium media, whether now or hereafter created; to use for our own internal business purposes; and/or to reproduce and distribute the materials for Helium’s marketing and publicity purposes.
Please let us know if there is anything else that we can do for you.
All the best,
Jim Logan
Helium:
I am sorry for the confusion here. It seems that you must have missed a critical part of the user agreement:
It is not signed by me, therefore, it is not a true legal/binding agreement.
-----Original Message-----
From: Helium Help <help@helium.com>
To:
Sent: Fri, 23 May 2008 6:08 am
Subject: RE: Delete all of my articles from Helium
Your account has been disabled and your access to it denied. You must check a box that states that you have read and agreed to the user agreement before an account will activate. You must have done this to have had an active account. I suggest that you simply move on now. You are no longer welcome on the site.
All the best,
Jim Logan
Helium:
Checking a box is not a legally binding action. In a court of law, a signature is required for a transfer of ownership to take place. Delete my property from your site. I will not be "moving on," without my property, I will be contacting my lawyer today.
Further attempts to access helium.com or any Helium computer systems will be considered malicious and reported to local and state law enforcement, the Internet Crimes division of the FBI and your internet service provider.
=================================
Helium Security
help@helium.com
Tami Krueger,
Further attempts to access helium.com or any Helium computer systems will be considered malicious and reported to local and state law enforcement, the Internet Crimes division of the FBI and your internet service provider.
Helium Security
help@helium.com
