Litigation: copyrights and electronic media On December 16, 10 free-lance writers filed suit against several newspapers and publishers charging copyright infringement. One plaintiff is the president of the National Writers Union, which represents 4,000 writers. He says, "many companies have been systematically infringing on copyrights by selling articles to databases and CD-ROM makers without our permission."

          Defendants include:

               The New York Times Co.
               Newsday Inc.
               The Time Inc. magazine Co.
               Mead Data Central Inc.
               University Microfilms Int'l


          On December 6, a federal trial court in Florida found that 
          a computerized bulletin board service had infringed Playboy's
          copyright by distributing Playboy's images to its
          subscribers.

          On Nov. 29, 140 music publishers filed suit, charging
          that over 550 copyrighted songs had been copied
          and distributed via CompuServe Inc.


                                   Francine Alfandary
                                   Columbia Law School