Publishers and authors urged to settle copyright dispute

The case is seen by many as a landmark copyright case in the US. It was brought by members of the National Writers Union against The New York Times Company, Newsday, Time, Lexis-Nexis, and University Microfilms, charging copyright violation regarding the electronic re-use of work produced and sold on a freelance basis. The US Court of Appeals, 2nd Circuit, overturned a lower court ruling in favour of the publishers. The US Supreme Court has agreed to review the case.

The Board of Directors of the Special Libraries Association is calling for a negotiated settlement among the parties. It cited among its reasons for wanting a negotiated settlement that a finding in support of the authors could set in motion several responses by the publishing community, including price increases to offset increased fees for use of freelance articles, or the removal of a substantial portion of archived articles.

It added that "a decision by the Supreme Court - regardless of the outcome - would be damaging to the global community of information users. A victory by the publishers would produce a chilling effect on the creation of articles by freelance writers, while a finding in favor of the authors would likely mean higher costs and/or reduced access for the most important players in the information game - the users."

David R. Bender, the Association's executive director, emphasised that the parties need to put aside their commercial interests and reach a compromise that will benefit everyone.

When asked about his thoughts on the possibility of a compromise, Bender observed that "we certainly appreciate that the writers deserve to be compensated for their work, and that the publishers want to limit their exposure in this situation; but they must strive to find a consensus, for a decision by the court could possibly be a devastating blow to the flow of information globally."

See also:

Writers taken to Supreme Court over web publication rights, OUT-LAW News, 07/11/2000

Writers sue over royalties for downloading of articles, OUT-LAW News, 23/08/2000