Journalists celebrate end to six-year fight against cyber-piracy

The National Writers Union in the US has welcomed a landmark lawsuit in the US that means freelance journalists have intellectual property rights to work published on the internet.

Late last month the US 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals ruled unanimously that the New York Times and other publishers cannot resell freelance newspaper and magazine articles by means of electronic databases unless they have the authors' express permission.

The case was brought by six freelance writers who claimed that the New York Times and other leading US newspapers had infringed their copyright by selling their articles on commercial websites without paying the authors extra.

The decision knocks a hole through the argument maintained by many publishers that material sold on to databases and other media is 'revised' and the permission of the individual copyright holder is not required.

A lower court had previously ruled in favour of the publishers.

The US National Writers Union - which brought the suit - said: 'The decision sets a precedent that will apply to thousands of other writers, photographers and other creators whose copyrighted work has been sold and resold without their permission.'

The NWU and the journalists who brought the case to court are now appealing to publishers to sit and negotiate instead of resorting to the courts.

'We don't think continued litigation is in anyone's best interests,' said the lead plaintiff, Jonathan Tasini. 'But make no mistake about it. We fought this suit for six years, and we intend to pursue this matter until all writers involved are treated fairly. It's up to the industry to decide whether we work together at the negotiating table, or whether we continue to fight in court.'

He added: 'The longer this cyber-piracy continues, the more liabilities for past infringement there will be.'

The NWU believes that the court ruling has wide implications for publications with online versions. 'Publishers do not now automatically have the right to put a freelance writer's work on their own web site: web rights are separate from print rights and must be licensed separately,' the NWU said.

The NWU has released guidelines for journalists on how to negotiate in the wake of the court ruling.

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