Published but Unpaid

I have written days ago how I felt when I found out that the samples I have submitted to a certain writing site were published on different websites without my knowledge. I know I am not the only victim of this kind of modus operandi but I still feel so frustrated by it. So I wrote a letter to the people behind the company and told them to pay for the articles or at least have those deleted from the Web.

One of the big bosses of the writing site replied to my email and said she will look into the matter and to give her time till this Tuesday to sort things out. She also asked for my paypal address. That should be enough to calm me down. But towards the end of her letter, she told me I own no copyright to the articles as, according to her, it was stated on the site that writers no longer own the copyright to written materials upon submission. I told her I still own the copyright because I was not compensated for any of those articles. I told her further that writers only relinquish copyrights to articles when paid and if articles were meant to be merely samples and not intended to be paid, they should not be sold to any of their clients nor published in any way, especially without the consent and knowledge of the original author or writer (in this case, myself).

Further, I told her that their site said nothing of the sort and that I have been promised by their editor that I will receive payment once the articles are accepted or approved. I checked their site again and saw that they have changed the entire layout and design of their website. Still, it did not mention that writers will no longer hold copyright to their written materials once they have submitted those to the site, regardless of whether the articles are paid or not.

Tuesday is coming to an end and I still have not heard again from the person who answered my first email. I do not know if she will email again or if they will ever pay for those articles. Right now, I no longer pay about payment. I just want them to have those articles deleted from whatever site they are published on. I own those articles and they have no right to claim it as their own.

How will you feel if you will see your own articles published by some unknown people without your permission? Your answer will definitely describe how I feel right now.