Freelancers’ Settlement All But Dead – Now What?

I suggest this has something to do with the fact that the case involves the economic interests of every newspaper and magazine in the land, and propose to help out.

Nearly three years ago three authors’ organizations announced a global settlement with periodical publishers and their electronic database licensees and partners (LexisNexis and the like) in a consolidation of copyright class-action cases inspired by the 2001 Supreme Court decision Tasini v. New York Times. The Court had ruled that freelance contributors, as opposed to staff writers, retain control of the secondary rights to works originally published in newspapers and magazines unless there is explicit agreement to the contrary. In a nutshell, individual downloadable articles from products such as databases and website archives aren’t the same as new editions of entire collective works, such as library microfilm, which publishers are free to license and profit from without the consent of the copyright holders.

The Second Circuit case, which I’ll get to shortly, is an appeal by ten objectors to the district court’s approval of the settlement. I am one of the objectors.

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