Hired a writer (independent contractor) who produced copyright-infringing work

[dishonestysucks]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Colorado

I hired a US-based writer to write something for me for $1,000, with $500 paid upfront and $500 on delivery. A couple of weeks ago I sent him the first $500 through PayPal.

When he sent me the material that he wrote, I plugged it into copyscape.com and found that the writing he produced is heavily plagiarized from another website. So I told him it was unacceptable.

My question now is, since the work he produced is an infringement on someone else's copyright, I don't need to pay him the final 50% for the work, right?

And also, what is the best way for me to get the initial $500 back from the guy, assuming he doesn't grant me a refund?

Thanks very much!

 

[justalayman]

well, without reading the contract (and no, do not post it here), there is no way to tell if you can demand the money back or if you have to pay the guy the rest of the money. If the terms of the contract allow him enough time to write another "something" that would fulfill the contract, you would have no action available to you until the writer failed to fulfill the contract.

If there is no time limitation, this could be a very long wait.

 

[dishonestysucks]

There was no contract, other than our email exchange.