[The text below was supplied to ScienceWriters by The American Society of Journalists and Authors, a national organization of leading freelance writers. Inquiries from all are welcome: Contracts Committee, ASJA, 1501 Broadway, New York, NY 10036, tel 212-997-0947, fax 212-768-7414, e-mail 75227.1650@compuserve.com.]
The Authors Registry is preparing to make its first payments to writers: database royalties from Harper's and photocopy license fees transferred from a collecting society in the United Kingdom.
News of Lang Communications (ms., Working Mother, Working Woman): Some writers report obtaining several needed contract improvements, including the promise of extra, separate fees for electronic rights. Problem is, thanks to the company's well-reported financial troubles, it seems not many of its freelancers are being paid anything at all these days, while the owner tries to keep creditors at bay with hopes for a cash transfusion.
Representatives of major Canadian writers' groups met last month in St. John's, Newfoundland for a Canadian Writers' Summit. The group issued a statement denouncing contracts from rights-grabbing Canadian publishers and saying the coalition "calls on all writers to resist these contracts, calls on the public to condemn them, and calls on publishers to adopt a more honorable approach to business." Among the Canadians' biggest targets: the mammoth Thomson Newspapers, whose legal department this month advised holding checks hostage as a way to force freelancers to sign over the right to free use of articles and photos, over and over, in all media. Thomson's top newspaper property, The Globe And Mail, ran into heavy opposition from freelancers when it tried that tack a few months ago. The Periodical Writers Association of Canada is warning freelancers about the new Thomson agreement, calling it "among the worst." PWAC's word to anyone who is offered a Thomson contract to sign: Don't.
Ladies' Home Journal, like some other Meredith magazines, looks for all rights but reportedly backs down if it seriously wants the story and sends a printed contract for just first North American and electronic rights--still lacking. Some of those contracts have been amended by the author to drop e-rights, but in at least some cases the articles have ended up on electronic databases anyway, awaiting authors' complaints and claims.
Atlantic Monthly has settled a two-and-a-half-year-old federal lawsuit brought by a writer after the magazine sublicensed his article to an electronic database without consent. The complaint against Atlantic by Rutgers professor H. Bruce Franklin was part of a suit filed in 1993 with the support of the National Writers Union. The action pitted 11 writers against four publishers and two database producers. Five of the six defendants--the New York Times, Newsday, Time Inc. (for Sports Illustrated), LEXIS-NEXIS and UMI--mounted a joint defense, while Atlantic fought alone...until it threw in the towel. The others so far are holding to the position that they were within their rights. No one's talking about how much Atlantic paid--the settlement agreement gags both sides--but the publisher pledged to negotiate with freelancers for e-rights in the future. The Wall Street Journal reported the development, but oddly enough, the story has been missing so far from the files of the Times and other major media.
Meantime, the Washington Post has joined the list of publishers who have settled with an individual freelancer without benefit of litigation. A writer accused the Post of illicitly putting a Weekend section article on-line. In fairly short order, the Post pulled the piece and paid $500. A suggested confidentiality clause, which would have required silence on the matter, was rejected by the writer.
And K-III Communications has begun to pay restitution to writers whose articles it sublicensed to on-line and CD-ROM databases. Late last month, New York contributors were sent checks for $55 per article, partial payment for what's owed. For a few of the prolific, the take is already in the thousands. What's happening at Gruner + Jahr? Contracts from G + J (publisher of such major titles as McCall's, Family Circle, Parents, Child and Fitness) call for three years of free e-rights, but many strong-willed writers, insisting they won't turn over the rights free for even an hour, have managed to have the provision dropped. Now, the company is reported ready to hold, at last, a long-awaited meeting between legal and editorial. Contributors are anxiously waiting to learn who prevails.
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