FREELANCERIGHTS Digest: '$2.5 Billion to $600 Billion'

http://freelancerights.blogspot.com/2005/05/25-billion-to-600-billion.html

‘$2.5 BILLION TO $600 BILLION’ An article in the July/August 2001 issue of the newsletter of the American Society of Journalists and Authors -- discussing the Supreme Court's landmark decision in the Tasini v. New York Times copyright suit -- states:

"An NWU [National Writers Union] study estimates that media
firms owe anywhere from $2.5 billion to $600 Billion to freelancers as a result of this ruling."

The NWU, ASJA, and the Authors Guild have secured preliminary approval of a $10-to-$18-million settlement in a consolidated class action implementing the Tasini ruling. You don't have to buy into the $2.5-to-$600-billion number in order to know that this settlement has no business getting approved until the parties at least document, discuss, and provide a rationale for reconciling the difference. After all, one percent of the lower boundary, $2.5 billion, would be $25 million. One hundredth of one percent of the upper boundary, $600 billion, would be $60 million.

Feel free to post blog comments or email me directly at info[_at_]muchnick.net. Our website is
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http://freelancerights.blogspot.com/2005/05/settlement-question-of-week-whats.html

SETTLEMENT QUESTION OF THE WEEK: What's the Difference Between Millions and Billions?

The topic of the moment is the National Writers Union's
"study" estimating a price tag of between $2.5 billion and
$600 billion for the industry's more than a decade's worth of systematic infringement of freelance writers' works on electronic databases. See today's earlier post.

The organization that conducted the study is a named
"associational plaintiff" in the recently announced
$10-to-$18-million preliminary settlement. (Several to many billions versus a couple or a few handfuls of millions -- that's a heck of a dilution.) So is the American Society of Journalists and Authors, which reported the study in its July/August 2001 newsletter.

The NWU, ASJA, and the third associational co-plaintiff, the Authors Guild, filed a "consolidated amended class action complaint" in September 2001, just after this study and report. The defendants never answered the complaint. Why?

Could the explanation be that once the defendants appeared in the lawsuit they would be forced to disclose the potential liability in their financial statements? And if so, then why were the associational plaintiffs seemingly enabling their legal adversaries by never filing for an injunction?

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http://freelancerights.blogspot.com Received on Wed May 18 2005 - 02:30:30 GMT