diff --git a/CHANGES.txt b/CHANGES.txt
index 1985a176..7e4b297f 100644
--- a/CHANGES.txt
+++ b/CHANGES.txt
@@ -1,3 +1,5 @@
+- NEW: overwrite attribute in the publish task now let force overwrite of read only files (IVY-83) 
+- IMPROVE: better error message when publish fails due to readonly destination (IVY-83)
 - FIX: raise a clean error when a cyclic variable definition is found (IVY-75)
 - FIX: reinitiliase ant project instance at each new task to avoid using a bad ant project instance in some ide (like netbeans) (IVY-87)
 - FIX: ivy is now able to use simple ivy files in cache (doesn't need resolver info, use default one if no resolver is given) (IVY-86)
diff --git a/src/java/fr/jayasoft/ivy/DependencyResolver.java b/src/java/fr/jayasoft/ivy/DependencyResolver.java
index ff06728e..69d14694 100644
--- a/src/java/fr/jayasoft/ivy/DependencyResolver.java
+++ b/src/java/fr/jayasoft/ivy/DependencyResolver.java
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@ public interface DependencyResolver {
     ResolvedModuleRevision getDependency(DependencyDescriptor dd, ResolveData data) throws ParseException;
     DownloadReport download(Artifact[] artifacts, Ivy ivy, File cache);
     boolean exists(Artifact artifact);
-    void publish(Artifact artifact, File src) throws IOException;
+    void publish(Artifact artifact, File src, boolean overwrite) throws IOException;
     
     /**
      * Reports last resolve failure as Messages
diff --git a/src/java/fr/jayasoft/ivy/Ivy.java b/src/java/fr/jayasoft/ivy/Ivy.java
index 31ea6eac..b7aa906c 100644
--- a/src/java/fr/jayasoft/ivy/Ivy.java
+++ b/src/java/fr/jayasoft/ivy/Ivy.java
@@ -1220,7 +1220,19 @@ public class Ivy implements TransferListener {
      * @return a collection of missing artifacts (those that are not published)
      * @throws ParseException
      */
-	public Collection publish(ModuleRevisionId mrid, String pubrevision, File cache, String srcArtifactPattern, String resolverName, String srcIvyPattern, boolean validate) throws IOException {
+    public Collection publish(ModuleRevisionId mrid, String pubrevision, File cache, String srcArtifactPattern, String resolverName, String srcIvyPattern, boolean validate) throws IOException {
+        return publish(mrid, pubrevision, cache, srcArtifactPattern, resolverName, srcIvyPattern, validate, false);
+    }
+    /**
+     * 
+     * @param pubrevision 
+     * @param resolverName the name of a resolver to use for publication
+     * @param srcArtifactPattern a pattern to find artifacts to publish with the given resolver
+     * @param srcIvyPattern a pattern to find ivy file to publish, null if ivy file should not be published
+     * @return a collection of missing artifacts (those that are not published)
+     * @throws ParseException
+     */
+    public Collection publish(ModuleRevisionId mrid, String pubrevision, File cache, String srcArtifactPattern, String resolverName, String srcIvyPattern, boolean validate, boolean overwrite) throws IOException {
         Message.info(":: publishing :: "+mrid);
         Message.verbose("\tvalidate = "+validate);
         long start = System.currentTimeMillis();
@@ -1261,13 +1273,13 @@ public class Ivy implements TransferListener {
 	    for (Iterator iter = artifactsSet.iterator(); iter.hasNext();) {
             Artifact artifact = (Artifact) iter.next();
     	    //   1) copy the artifact using src pattern and resolver
-            if (!publish(artifact, srcArtifactPattern, resolver)) {
+            if (!publish(artifact, srcArtifactPattern, resolver, overwrite)) {
                 missing.add(artifact);
             }
         }
         if (srcIvyPattern != null) {
             Artifact artifact = new MDArtifact(md, "ivy", "ivy", "xml");
-            if (!publish(artifact, srcIvyPattern, resolver)) {
+            if (!publish(artifact, srcIvyPattern, resolver, overwrite)) {
                 missing.add(artifact);
             }
         }
@@ -1275,17 +1287,14 @@ public class Ivy implements TransferListener {
         return missing;
     }
 
-    private boolean publish(Artifact artifact, String srcArtifactPattern, DependencyResolver resolver) {
+    private boolean publish(Artifact artifact, String srcArtifactPattern, DependencyResolver resolver, boolean overwrite) throws IOException {
         File src = new File(IvyPatternHelper.substitute(srcArtifactPattern, artifact));
         if (src.exists()) {
-            try {
-                resolver.publish(artifact, src);
-                return true;
-            } catch (Exception ex) {
-                Message.error("impossible to publish "+artifact+" with "+resolver.getName()+": "+ex.getMessage());
-            }
+            resolver.publish(artifact, src, overwrite);
+            return true;
+        } else {
+            return false;
         }
-        return false;
     }
 
     /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
diff --git a/src/java/fr/jayasoft/ivy/ant/IvyPublish.java b/src/java/fr/jayasoft/ivy/ant/IvyPublish.java
index 778af4db..11ca535f 100644
--- a/src/java/fr/jayasoft/ivy/ant/IvyPublish.java
+++ b/src/java/fr/jayasoft/ivy/ant/IvyPublish.java
@@ -40,6 +40,7 @@ public class IvyPublish extends IvyTask {
     private boolean _publishivy = true;
     private boolean _warnonmissing = true;
     private boolean _haltonmissing = true;
+    private boolean _overwrite = false;
     
     public File getCache() {
         return _cache;
@@ -183,7 +184,7 @@ public class IvyPublish extends IvyTask {
                 deliver.execute();
             }
             
-            Collection missing = ivy.publish(mrid, _pubRevision, _cache, _artifactspattern, _publishResolverName, _publishivy?_srcivypattern:null, doValidate(ivy));
+            Collection missing = ivy.publish(mrid, _pubRevision, _cache, _artifactspattern, _publishResolverName, _publishivy?_srcivypattern:null, doValidate(ivy), _overwrite);
             if (_warnonmissing) {
                 for (Iterator iter = missing.iterator(); iter.hasNext();) {
                     Artifact artifact = (Artifact)iter.next();
@@ -237,4 +238,10 @@ public class IvyPublish extends IvyTask {
     public void setHaltonmissing(boolean haltonmissing) {
         _haltonmissing = haltonmissing;
     }
+    public boolean isOverwrite() {
+        return _overwrite;
+    }
+    public void setOverwrite(boolean overwrite) {
+        _overwrite = overwrite;
+    }
 }
diff --git a/src/java/fr/jayasoft/ivy/repository/Repository.java b/src/java/fr/jayasoft/ivy/repository/Repository.java
index 89d9510a..f201f017 100644
--- a/src/java/fr/jayasoft/ivy/repository/Repository.java
+++ b/src/java/fr/jayasoft/ivy/repository/Repository.java
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ import java.util.List;
 public interface Repository {
     Resource getResource(String source)  throws IOException;
     void get(String source, File destination) throws IOException;
-    void put(File source, String destination) throws IOException;
+    void put(File source, String destination, boolean overwrite) throws IOException;
     /**
      * Returns the list of all resources names that can be found in the given
      * parent.
diff --git a/src/java/fr/jayasoft/ivy/repository/file/FileRepository.java b/src/java/fr/jayasoft/ivy/repository/file/FileRepository.java
index 262c0f66..a98a72cc 100644
--- a/src/java/fr/jayasoft/ivy/repository/file/FileRepository.java
+++ b/src/java/fr/jayasoft/ivy/repository/file/FileRepository.java
@@ -46,17 +46,17 @@ public class FileRepository extends AbstractRepository {
 
     public void get(String source, File destination) throws IOException {
         fireTransferInitiated(getResource(source), TransferEvent.REQUEST_GET);
-        copy(getFile(source), destination);
+        copy(getFile(source), destination, true);
     }
 
-    public void put(File source, String destination) throws IOException {
+    public void put(File source, String destination, boolean overwrite) throws IOException {
         fireTransferInitiated(getResource(destination), TransferEvent.REQUEST_PUT);
-        copy(source, getFile(destination));
+        copy(source, getFile(destination), overwrite);
     }
 
-    private void copy(File src, File destination) throws IOException {
+    private void copy(File src, File destination, boolean overwrite) throws IOException {
         try {
-            FileUtil.copy(src, destination, _progress);
+            FileUtil.copy(src, destination, _progress, overwrite);
         } catch (IOException ex) {
             fireTransferError(ex);
             throw ex;
diff --git a/src/java/fr/jayasoft/ivy/repository/url/URLRepository.java b/src/java/fr/jayasoft/ivy/repository/url/URLRepository.java
index fdfe0af5..002a0777 100644
--- a/src/java/fr/jayasoft/ivy/repository/url/URLRepository.java
+++ b/src/java/fr/jayasoft/ivy/repository/url/URLRepository.java
@@ -52,7 +52,7 @@ public class URLRepository extends AbstractRepository {
         }
     }
 
-    public void put(File source, String destination) throws IOException {
+    public void put(File source, String destination, boolean overwrite) throws IOException {
         throw new UnsupportedOperationException("URL repository is not able to put files for the moment");
     }
 
diff --git a/src/java/fr/jayasoft/ivy/resolver/CacheResolver.java b/src/java/fr/jayasoft/ivy/resolver/CacheResolver.java
index c5ea52fa..2088acb3 100644
--- a/src/java/fr/jayasoft/ivy/resolver/CacheResolver.java
+++ b/src/java/fr/jayasoft/ivy/resolver/CacheResolver.java
@@ -103,9 +103,9 @@ public class CacheResolver extends FileSystemResolver {
         ensureConfigured();
         return super.exists(artifact);
     }
-    public void publish(Artifact artifact, File src) throws IOException {
+    public void publish(Artifact artifact, File src, boolean overwrite) throws IOException {
         ensureConfigured();
-        super.publish(artifact, src);
+        super.publish(artifact, src, overwrite);
     }
     
     
diff --git a/src/java/fr/jayasoft/ivy/resolver/ChainResolver.java b/src/java/fr/jayasoft/ivy/resolver/ChainResolver.java
index dcf3a1dc..910a1dd7 100644
--- a/src/java/fr/jayasoft/ivy/resolver/ChainResolver.java
+++ b/src/java/fr/jayasoft/ivy/resolver/ChainResolver.java
@@ -99,11 +99,11 @@ public class ChainResolver extends AbstractResolver {
     public List getResolvers() {
         return _chain;
     }
-    public void publish(Artifact artifact, File src) throws IOException {
+    public void publish(Artifact artifact, File src, boolean overwrite) throws IOException {
         if (_chain.isEmpty()) {
             throw new IllegalStateException("invalid chain resolver with no sub resolver");
         }
-        ((DependencyResolver)_chain.get(0)).publish(artifact, src);
+        ((DependencyResolver)_chain.get(0)).publish(artifact, src, overwrite);
     }
     public boolean isReturnFirst() {
         return _returnFirst;
diff --git a/src/java/fr/jayasoft/ivy/resolver/DualResolver.java b/src/java/fr/jayasoft/ivy/resolver/DualResolver.java
index 26c1597b..892a5639 100644
--- a/src/java/fr/jayasoft/ivy/resolver/DualResolver.java
+++ b/src/java/fr/jayasoft/ivy/resolver/DualResolver.java
@@ -117,11 +117,11 @@ public class DualResolver extends AbstractResolver {
     public void setIvyResolver(DependencyResolver ivyResolver) {
         _ivyResolver = ivyResolver;
     }
-    public void publish(Artifact artifact, File src) throws IOException {
+    public void publish(Artifact artifact, File src, boolean overwrite) throws IOException {
         if ("ivy".equals(artifact.getType())) {
-            _ivyResolver.publish(artifact, src);
+            _ivyResolver.publish(artifact, src, overwrite);
         } else {
-            _artifactResolver.publish(artifact, src);
+            _artifactResolver.publish(artifact, src, overwrite);
         }
     }
     
diff --git a/src/java/fr/jayasoft/ivy/resolver/RepositoryResolver.java b/src/java/fr/jayasoft/ivy/resolver/RepositoryResolver.java
index 28d23136..cdb2991b 100644
--- a/src/java/fr/jayasoft/ivy/resolver/RepositoryResolver.java
+++ b/src/java/fr/jayasoft/ivy/resolver/RepositoryResolver.java
@@ -113,7 +113,7 @@ public class RepositoryResolver extends AbstractResourceResolver {
         return ivyTempFile.length();
     }
 
-    public void publish(Artifact artifact, File src) throws IOException {
+    public void publish(Artifact artifact, File src, boolean overwrite) throws IOException {
         String destPattern;
         if ("ivy".equals(artifact.getType()) && !getIvyPatterns().isEmpty()) {
             destPattern =  (String)getIvyPatterns().get(0);
@@ -121,7 +121,7 @@ public class RepositoryResolver extends AbstractResourceResolver {
             destPattern =  (String)getArtifactPatterns().get(0);
         }
         String dest = IvyPatternHelper.substitute(destPattern, artifact);
-        _repository.put(src, dest);
+        _repository.put(src, dest, overwrite);
         Message.info("\tpublished "+artifact.getName()+" to "+dest);
     }
     
diff --git a/src/java/fr/jayasoft/ivy/util/FileUtil.java b/src/java/fr/jayasoft/ivy/util/FileUtil.java
index ebe3592e..a3e00606 100644
--- a/src/java/fr/jayasoft/ivy/util/FileUtil.java
+++ b/src/java/fr/jayasoft/ivy/util/FileUtil.java
@@ -25,6 +25,16 @@ public class FileUtil {
     // 8 * 1024 is also the size used by ant in its FileUtils... maybe they've done more study about it ;-)
     private static final int BUFFER_SIZE = 8 * 1024; 
     public static void copy(File src, File dest, CopyProgressListener l) throws IOException {
+        copy(src, dest, l, false);
+    }
+    public static void copy(File src, File dest, CopyProgressListener l, boolean overwrite) throws IOException {
+        if (dest.exists() && !dest.canWrite()) {
+            if (overwrite && dest.isFile()) {
+                dest.delete();
+            } else {
+                throw new IOException("impossible to copy: destination is not writable: "+dest);
+            }
+        }
         copy(new FileInputStream(src), dest, l);
         dest.setLastModified(src.lastModified());
     }
diff --git a/test/java/fr/jayasoft/ivy/ant/IvyPublishTest.java b/test/java/fr/jayasoft/ivy/ant/IvyPublishTest.java
index b17fd84c..fa7b1789 100644
--- a/test/java/fr/jayasoft/ivy/ant/IvyPublishTest.java
+++ b/test/java/fr/jayasoft/ivy/ant/IvyPublishTest.java
@@ -5,12 +5,15 @@
  */
 package fr.jayasoft.ivy.ant;
 
+import java.io.BufferedReader;
 import java.io.File;
+import java.io.FileReader;
 
 import junit.framework.TestCase;
 
 import org.apache.tools.ant.Project;
 import org.apache.tools.ant.taskdefs.Delete;
+import org.apache.tools.ant.taskdefs.Echo;
 
 import fr.jayasoft.ivy.Ivy;
 import fr.jayasoft.ivy.ModuleDescriptor;
@@ -91,4 +94,82 @@ public class IvyPublishTest extends TestCase {
         assertEquals("1.2", md.getModuleRevisionId().getRevision());
     }
 
+    public void testReadonly() throws Exception {
+        _project.setProperty("ivy.dep.file", "test/java/fr/jayasoft/ivy/ant/ivy-simple.xml");
+        IvyResolve res = new IvyResolve();
+        res.setProject(_project);
+        res.execute();
+        
+        _publish.setPubrevision("1.2");
+        _publish.setResolver("1");
+        File art = new File("build/test/publish/resolve-simple-1.2.jar");
+        FileUtil.copy(new File("test/repositories/1/org1/mod1.1/jars/mod1.1-1.0.jar"), art, null);
+        
+        Echo echo = new Echo();
+        echo.setProject(_project);
+        echo.setMessage("new version");
+        echo.setFile(art);
+        echo.execute();
+
+        File dest = new File("test/repositories/1/jayasoft/resolve-simple/jars/resolve-simple-1.2.jar");
+        FileUtil.copy(new File("test/repositories/1/org1/mod1.1/jars/mod1.1-1.0.jar"), 
+                dest, null);
+
+        echo = new Echo();
+        echo.setProject(_project);
+        echo.setMessage("old version");
+        echo.setFile(dest);
+        echo.execute();
+
+        dest.setReadOnly();
+        
+        try {
+            _publish.execute();
+            fail("by default, publish should fail when a readonly artifact already exist");
+        } catch (Exception ex) {
+            assertTrue(dest.exists());
+            BufferedReader reader = new BufferedReader(new FileReader(dest));
+            assertEquals("old version", reader.readLine());
+            reader.close();
+        }
+    }
+
+    public void testOverwrite() throws Exception {
+        _project.setProperty("ivy.dep.file", "test/java/fr/jayasoft/ivy/ant/ivy-simple.xml");
+        IvyResolve res = new IvyResolve();
+        res.setProject(_project);
+        res.execute();
+        
+        _publish.setPubrevision("1.2");
+        _publish.setResolver("1");
+        File art = new File("build/test/publish/resolve-simple-1.2.jar");
+        FileUtil.copy(new File("test/repositories/1/org1/mod1.1/jars/mod1.1-1.0.jar"), art, null);
+        
+        Echo echo = new Echo();
+        echo.setProject(_project);
+        echo.setMessage("new version");
+        echo.setFile(art);
+        echo.execute();
+
+        File dest = new File("test/repositories/1/jayasoft/resolve-simple/jars/resolve-simple-1.2.jar");
+        FileUtil.copy(new File("test/repositories/1/org1/mod1.1/jars/mod1.1-1.0.jar"), 
+                dest, null);
+
+        echo = new Echo();
+        echo.setProject(_project);
+        echo.setMessage("old version");
+        echo.setFile(dest);
+        echo.execute();
+
+        dest.setReadOnly();
+        
+
+        _publish.setOverwrite(true);
+        _publish.execute();
+        assertTrue(dest.exists());
+        BufferedReader reader = new BufferedReader(new FileReader(dest));
+        assertEquals("new version", reader.readLine());
+        reader.close();
+    }
+
 }
diff --git a/test/java/fr/jayasoft/ivy/resolver/FileSystemResolverTest.java b/test/java/fr/jayasoft/ivy/resolver/FileSystemResolverTest.java
index 30b53299..597821b7 100644
--- a/test/java/fr/jayasoft/ivy/resolver/FileSystemResolverTest.java
+++ b/test/java/fr/jayasoft/ivy/resolver/FileSystemResolverTest.java
@@ -342,8 +342,8 @@ public class FileSystemResolverTest extends TestCase {
             Artifact ivyArtifact = new DefaultArtifact(mrid, new Date(), "ivy", "ivy", "xml");
             Artifact artifact = new DefaultArtifact(mrid, new Date(), "myartifact", "mytype", "myext");
             File src = new File("test/repositories/ivyconf.xml");
-            resolver.publish(ivyArtifact, src);
-            resolver.publish(artifact, src);
+            resolver.publish(ivyArtifact, src, false);
+            resolver.publish(artifact, src, false);
             
             assertTrue(new File("test/repositories/1/myorg/mymodule/myrevision/ivy.xml").exists());
             assertTrue(new File("test/repositories/1/myorg/mymodule/mytypes/myartifact-myrevision.myext").exists());
diff --git a/test/java/fr/jayasoft/ivy/resolver/MockResolver.java b/test/java/fr/jayasoft/ivy/resolver/MockResolver.java
index 50d670ee..f59097e3 100644
--- a/test/java/fr/jayasoft/ivy/resolver/MockResolver.java
+++ b/test/java/fr/jayasoft/ivy/resolver/MockResolver.java
@@ -66,7 +66,7 @@ public class MockResolver extends AbstractResolver {
     public DownloadReport download(Artifact[] artifacts, Ivy ivy, File cache) {
         return null;
     }
-    public void publish(Artifact artifact, File src) throws IOException {
+    public void publish(Artifact artifact, File src, boolean overwrite) throws IOException {
     }
     
 }