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BS: Freelance Writers Protect Your Material
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BS: Freelance Writers Protect Your Material |
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Subject: Freelance Writers Protect Your Material From: katlaughing Date: 28 Jun 01 - 06:50 PM I received this from the National Writer's Union. There is a followup at the bottom with a request that I share it with other writers. More info on the actual Supreme Court victory for freelancers can be found at any of these sites: There were links to the NYTimes, but you have to be a subscriber, sorry. Here are the links for it:
http://www.nytimes.com/2001/06/26/technology/26BIZC.html URGENT-FREELANCERS, MAKE A PHONE CALL TO PROTECT YOUR RIGHTS! In the wake of the Supreme Court victory for freelancers, the New York Times is attempting to mitigate their financial liabilities by seizing rights from freelancers. DO NOT SIGN ANY CONTRACT THE TIMES IS OFFERING--EITHER IN PRINT OR ON THE WEB. YOU WILL BE GIVING UP YOUR RIGHTS AND POTENTIAL FINANCIAL COMPENSATION STEMMING FROM THE SUPREME COURT VICTORY. In a Times "news" story covering their loss in the Supreme Court on June 25, two telephone numbers were published. Freelance writers were invited to call the numbers if they wanted "their work to remain available." When one dials the numbers, a recorded message, citing the Supreme Court decision, says that the Times is "obliged" to remove freelance articles from electronic archives. Writers are then told that, if they want to keep their material in the Times' electronic archives, they must sign a contract-available on the web or via mail-granting the Times' the rights to your articles, for no further compensation AND releasing the Times from any claims for compensation in the future. The National Writers Union is asking writers everywhere to flood the NY Times with phone calls immediately beginning at 9 a.m. Eastern Standard Time on Wednesday June 27, 2001 (if you see this message after that time, it's still important to make the calls). We are asking that you make two calls. The first to the automated message-when you reach the message, do not select the option to visit the web. Wait until the message ends and gives you options to receive the contract via mail and leave a recorded message making the following points: We want fair compensation for our work. We will not sign away our rights under duress. We believe in preserving the public record and there is no reason to delete articles-the Supreme Court cited licensing systems as one option. The NWU has created the Publication Rights Clearinghouse, which will resolve the liabilities from the lawsuit by legally licensing rights to individual articles Then, call the office of the Times' Publisher Arthur Sulzberger and object to the Times' rejection of offers the NWU has made to negotiate, as well as the paper's attempt to take away rights from writers without fair compensation.
Phone numbers: Arthur Sulzberger: 212-556-3588 TODAY'S FOLLOWUP: The calls NWU members made registered with The New York Times. From a story today in inside.com comes this quote from Catherine Mathis, spokeperson for the Times: ''We've received a large volume calls from free-lancers today, apparently from the NWU who feel that we shouldn't remove the articles,'' Mathis of the Times says." We thank you for your activism. It makes a huge difference. If you haven't made your call, do so. If you have, forward the information to another writer and ask that s/he make a call. We still hope that rational publishers will sit down to negotiate a fair settlement. But, we are also working on other plans to force the publishers to abide by the ruling of the Supreme Court. Stay tuned.
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Subject: RE: BS: Freelance Writers Protect Your Material From: Mountain Dog Date: 28 Jun 01 - 08:18 PM Dear Kat, Thanks for the updates! Important info for anyone who makes their living by the pen. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Freelance Writers Protect Your Material From: hesperis Date: 28 Jun 01 - 08:42 PM Interesting. Thankskat! |
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Subject: RE: BS: Freelance Writers Protect Your Material From: jeffp Date: 29 Jun 01 - 09:38 AM Marvelous! Organize and stand up to the b*stards! jeffp |
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Subject: RE: BS: Freelance Writers Protect Your Material From: Grab Date: 29 Jun 01 - 01:07 PM Kat, I'm curious - what does a typical freelancer contract say? Once you've written your article, can it be reproduced ad infinitum in print, or do you get a payment for every time it's printed? And do you get an extra payment for ppl requesting reprints of old articles? Just wondering. In industry, a contractor is called in to write some code or design a circuit, say - they do the job and that's it. What they've produced is then the property of the company. I guess this is different from how freelance writers work, then. I know that once I read an article on ZDNet about some issue, and in looking around the rest of the computer press for other info on the issue, I found that almost everywhere else just used the same report from the same writer! Graham. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Freelance Writers Protect Your Material From: katlaughing Date: 02 Aug 01 - 06:21 PM Graham, sorry I didn't see your posting and so, didn't answer. I haven't been fortunate to see too many contracts for writing, but do know that whatever of mine is published in the newspaper or magazines I've written for, I retain all copyrights; also that, in most instances, as you will see in the advice in the update below, most writers sell First North American Serial Rights, which, as I understand it is a once shot deal for the pubs to use that piece of work for that one time only. Any additional use, they must pay extra. You could probably find more information about it at www.nwu.org or the website for the Writer's Market. It's been awhile since I've read up on it. I'll try to find an article for you. Thanks, kat Here's the latest from NWU: AOL/Time Warner has a new, work-for-hire contract they're pushing on writers. This contract demands complete copyright to the work without any additional pay or compensation for the creator. The NWU is currently forming a coalition to resist these contracts and we need your help. If you or someone you know writes for a Time Warner publication (see list and link below), please do NOT sign the all rights/work for hire contract. This contract hurts you and all other writers in the union. If you are under pressure to get a signed contract back to the publisher immediately, we suggest that you cross out the "work for hire" language and insert "First North American Serial Rights" in its place. In the Section (4)of the contract we have reviewed, we suggest you complete the first sentence as follows: "You hereby acknowledge that the Articles shall be sold on a First North American Serial Rights basis." The remainder of the section should be crossed out completely. A partial list of Time Warner publications is below; for a complete list, go to www.aoltimewarner.com/about/companies/timeinc.html It is crucial that we have solidarity and that everyone in the Union stand firm! AOL Time Warner Publications: (Selected list of better known titles)
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Subject: RE: BS: Freelance Writers Protect Your Material From: katlaughing Date: 02 Aug 01 - 06:31 PM Well there is much more than this, but at least this will explain manuscript rights in the US. From WritersMarket.com: Rights are sold to editors and publishers in varying forms and degrees. An established writer usually has more power to negotiate than a novice does; nevertheless, any writer should try to avoid, in most instances, selling all rights to a piece of work. The kinds of rights most commonly sold to magazine editors are outlined below. First serial rights are sold to periodicals (serials). Included in these rights is the agreement that the periodical will be the first publisher of the material. First serial rights can be restricted to include a particular area; e.g., modified versions are first North American serial rights and first U.S. serial rights. Second serial (reprint) rights are rights sold to a newspaper or magazine with an article, story or poem that has previously been published in another periodical. An excerpt from a published book, regardless of whether it was previously published in a periodical, will also customarily be sold to a periodical with second serial (reprint) rights. Foreign serial rights, rights sold to a market abroad, can be sold by a writer—provided he still has the rights. For example, if a writer has sold first U.S. serial rights to an American magazine, he is free to market the same piece in Europe; if, however, a U.S. publisher has purchased "first serial rights," without any geographical limiting phrase, the publisher may have foreign editions and be assuming he has ensured that he will be the first to publish it in any country in the world. The term syndication rights refers to rights sold to a syndicate under the term "serial rights." A book published in installments in several newspapers, for example, would be placed under this category. If the newspaper installments appeared before the book's publication, the author would be syndicating first serial rights to the book; if the installments appeared after publication, he would be syndicating second serial rights. Simultaneous rights are rights sold to two publishers (whose circulations do not compete) at the same time. The publisher who owns several magazines might also buy simultaneous rights to use the same piece in two or three of his publications. When a piece is being submitted to more than one publication simultaneously, it is best to advise the editors accordingly. When an editor buys all rights to a piece, the writer loses his right to sell it to another publisher. A work-for-hire agreement is one that includes the writer's selling of all rights in addition to the copyright. A writer can also sell rights to his work to other media, namely theater, TV and film. Dramatic rights, TV rights and motion picture rights are often offered at a percentage of the total price as an option to buy for a specific period of time. The property is then brought to the attention of people in the industry—actors, directors, studios or TV networks—for possible production. The copyright law that took effect January 1, 1978, provides the creator of a piece of writing with all rights as soon as the work is complete. The creator may sell all or part of those rights, but the power to decide which belongs to him.
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Subject: RE: BS: Freelance Writers Protect Your Material From: Irish sergeant Date: 02 Aug 01 - 07:36 PM Good advice> Don't sign in haste and have a lawyer check it over (yours not theirs) Neil |
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Subject: RE: BS: Freelance Writers Protect Your Material From: GUEST,.gargoyle Date: 03 Aug 01 - 03:56 AM SPAM.... ..................SPAM ...........................................SPAM
I've made me last six month's living off material I've "stolen" from you laugh kat....
Fortunately, the per/capita GNP for Peru is 850/year.....about double that of Salt Lake and Wyoming....Good Lord only knows what will happen on my return to AZ.....I'll be living in clover.
THANX for YOUR material ...Kat....its been damn good marketable stuff.
Best of Friends FOREVER, .gargoyle |
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Subject: RE: BS: Freelance Writers Protect Your Material From: pavane Date: 03 Aug 01 - 04:03 AM Does anyone have similar information on the UK rights and contracts? or links to it? |