Re: NYTimes.com Article: High Court Sides With Freelance Writers inElectronic Rights Case

["John Cox" <John.E.Cox@btinternet.com>]

The Supreme Court's decision in the Tasini case is indeed of major
importance.  But a word of caution.  The Supreme Court has backed the
copyright owner - in this case the freelance authors.  This is consistent
with other major copyright cases in both the USA and in other
jurisdictions.

When we consider it in the context of scholarly communication, the
implications are that the publisher - generally either the copyright owner
or as the exclusive publishing licensee - will receive the same level of
protection from the courts as Tasini et al did in this case.  Libraries
need to be as careful about ensuring usage of electronic content is
consistent with the terms of the license or, in default, the provisions of
copyright law as publishers have to ensure they secure all the rights they
need to publish.

John Cox Associates
Rookwood, Bradden
TOWCESTER, Northants NN12 8ED
United Kingdom
Tel: +44 (0) 1327 861193
Fax: +44 (0) 1327 861184
E-mail: John.E.Cox@btinternet.com
-----Original Message-----

From: Ann Okerson <ann.okerson@yale.edu>
To: liblicense-l@lists.yale.edu <liblicense-l@lists.yale.edu>
Date: 25 June 2001 6:28 pm
Subject: NYTimes.com Article: High Court Sides With Freelance Writers
inElectronic Rights Case

>---------- Forwarded message ----------
>
>Supremes decide Tasini in favor of writers
>High Court Sides With Freelance Writers in Electronic Rights Case
>
>By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
>
>Filed at 10:57 a.m. ET
>
>WASHINGTON (AP) -- Ruling against big media companies in an information
>age dispute Monday, the Supreme Court said free-lance writers may control
>whether articles they sold for print in a regular newspaper or magazine
>may be reproduced in electronic form.
>
>The court ruled 7-2 that compilation in an electronic database is
>different from other kinds of archival or library storage of material that
>once appeared in print. That means that copyright laws require big media
>companies such as The New York Times to get free-lancers' permission
>before posting their work online.
>
>Justices Stephen Breyer and John Paul Stevens dissented.
>
>At issue was how to treat copyright works when technological advances
>changed the way information would be available in ways neither the writer
>nor the publication foresaw.
>
>Although seemingly esoteric, the copyright fight goes to the heart of the
>Internet's basic appeal to researchers and casual users -- how much
>information is available at the click of a computer mouse.
>
>Large publishers argued that if they lost, they would probably remove a
>lot of material from electronic view rather than fight with writers over
>permission and fees.
>
>The case turned on whether electronic reproduction of a newspaper or
>periodical constitutes a revision of the original print edition. Under
>copyright law, publishers do not need authors' permission to produce a
>revised version of the original edition.
>
>The case largely affects articles, photographs and illustrations produced
>a decade or so ago -- before free-lance contracts provided for the
>material's electronic use.
>
>Six free-lance writers sued The New York Times, Newsday, Time Inc. and
>other publishers over inclusion of their work in electronic databases.
>Some databases require the user to pay a fee, such as LEXIS/NEXIS, while
>others are available free over the Internet.
>
>A federal judge first ruled for the publishers, throwing out the writers'
>suit on grounds that electronic databases are revisions under the
>copyright law.
>
>The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New York reversed in 1999,
>finding that copyright law required publishers to seek authors'
>permission.
>
>The case is New York Times v. Tasini, 00-201.
>
>http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/national/AP-Scotus-Free-Lance.html?ex=99448
5244&ei=1&en=56d5cb000908ea72
>
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