Freelance writers win big settlement

An $18 million class-action settlement has finally followed the landmark June 2001 Supreme Court copyright ruling in New York Times et al. v. Tasini et al.

The decision had upheld that electronic use of freelance writers’ work is a violation of their copyrights.

It’s estimated that upwards of 100,000 freelance writers whose work was sold by The New York Times and other named defendants to electronic databases without the writers’ permission will be eligible to make claims for damages.

Announced on March 30, this agreement is the result of class-action lawsuits filed in 2000 by 21 members of the Authors Guild, the American Society of Journalists and Authors, and the National Writers Union, which were also associational plaintiffs.

The National Writers Union, UAW Local 1981, brought the original lawsuit in 1993 with help from the Auto Workers.

For more about the settlement, go to the NWU website: www.nwu.org.