<> <> <> <> <> <> <> <>
ASJA CONTRACTS WATCH 52 (vol 4, #13) CW971014 October 14, 1997
[The American Society of Journalists and Authors encourages reproduction and distribution of this document for the benefit of freelance writers. Reprint or post as many items as you wish, but please credit ASJA for the information and don't change the content.]
News of FAMILY CIRCLE, WOMAN'S DAY, EMMY, LOG HOME LIVING, NEW YORK OBSERVER, PARENTING and more....
FAMILY CIRCLE or WOMAN'S DAY? Once upon a time, if a freelancer had a story that might fit either magazine, WD was the place to go. After all, its owner, HACHETTE FILIPACCHI MAGAZINES, was one of the first big publishing groups to agree to pay for electronic use of articles (although not unless the writer asks). And on request, WD could turn the usual company claim of broad e-rights forever into a limited license: America Online for a year.
Things have changed. WD's editors still offer pay for some e-rights (if the writer asks), but now insist on the right to electronic use forever, as often and in as many ways and places as the publisher chooses. Another sore spot: Hachette's refusal to OK warranty language that reasonably reduces the author's risk, language ("to the best of your knowledge...") that's fine with most magazine publishers today. In fact, writers report that WD editors increasingly seem to resent discussing contract issues at all. As a result, WD appears to be losing the good will it had earned.
Meanwhile, according to repeated reports from writers, Family Circle editors understand that a contract is a negotiable instrument, and they have the authority to turn the standard, overreaching GRUNER + JAHR contract into a fair deal. For the asking, they amend G+J's usual free e-rights clause to include a fee to be negotiated if the rights are exercised. And fixing the warranty presents no problem at FC. If these and a couple of other improvements that FC routinely makes for individuals were incorporated into the boilerplate, the magazine would have a home run...and a lot of writer-editor negotiation time would be saved.
EMMY, the magazine of the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, is asking contributors for permission to post their articles on a hoped-for section of the Academy's site on the World Wide Web. Did someone say something about money? Sorry, editor/publisher Hank Rieger tells ASJA Contracts Watch: "We're nonprofit. We don't have any money, so we can't pay."
"Can't?" Is the Webmaster being paid? Is the Internet service provider being paid? Well, yes. How odd that the Academy, an organization of creators, should be in the rear guard on an issue as important as creators' rights in new media.
But Emmy isn't insisting on handouts--the magazine's letter to contributors ends with a choice of two lines to check, saying yes or no to the request. No money? No time limit? The choice is easy. Adds Rieger: "We may or may not get on the Web. It depends on whether enough writers give us the rights. We can't have a Website without copy."
A new contract from LOG HOME LIVING (HOME BUYER PUBLICATIONS) is fair on some points (an extra fee equal to half the original article fee for print anthologizing; third-party reprint requests referred to the author) but not on others (free reuse in a "reprinting" of the magazine "in any medium" and "all Internet rights"). But a writer reports negotiating a 50-percent payment for "any medium" reuses and a small fee for one month's Internet rights.
The weekly NEW YORK OBSERVER is reportedly set to launch an online venture. In preparation, the newspaper's management has jumped in with a sledgehammer. They've just sent frequent Observer freelancers a hurry-up-and-sign-it-or-else letter decreeing their contributions works made for hire, taking unto the paper every right for the rest of time. The letter adds that writers will see a half-share of print income "directly attributable" to their articles--a slippery setup that can yield writers nothing when their work is relicensed as part of a package. "Online/interactive/electronic media/electronic database" income would stay with the publisher.
A cover note from Observer president Brian Kempner says the paper is "requiring all of our freelancers to sign" by October 15, but ASJA Contracts Watch has already heard that several of the paper's well known columnists are rejecting the demand. Says one long-time contributor: "Over the past several years I've logged $66,000 from secondary rights--much of it from pieces I published first in the Observer. I wouldn't give that up, and I wouldn't let anyone else make deals with my columns unless I share. I'll be happy to license the Observer the right to use my work on AOL for a week, if that's what they want, or forever for a decent yearly fee. But I don't sell my rights outright, and I certainly don't give them away--I license them. That's what being freelance is all about."
Kempner wouldn't comment.
PARENTING, which for a time paid writers a super-modest $25 per article for a license of about a year on its Website, has been offering another $25 to renew, this time for two years. At least one writer reports talking the fee up to $50, which keeps the yearly rate the same. Now, parent TIME INC. insists that writers hand over all online rights forever, so those still willing to write for Parenting today won't have the pleasure of negotiating renewal fees of any sort.
Is that the same TIME INC. that issued a written policy statement on e-rights payments for photographers and promised the same for writers and illustrators? Yep.
A report from Canada tells of a recent Ontario court case in which a professor who usurped credit for a graduate student's research paper was found guilty of copyright infringement. According to a story by Chris Bodnar in the Fulcrum, a University of Ottawa newspaper, a business professor published the student's paper and delivered it at a conference under his own name. The judge blasted the university for its "cavalier attitude" in dealing with the student's complaint and added, "The university cannot stand idly by while its professors blatantly breach copyright laws." The award to the student: $7,500 in damages plus legal costs.
Many ASJA members and others send a stream of contracts, information and scuttlebutt so that these dispatches can be as informative as possible. Thanks to all.
To receive each edition by e-mail automatically (and at no charge), send the following message:
To: ASJA-MANAGER[_at_]SILVERQUICK.COM
Subject: CONTRACTS WATCH
Complete Text: JOIN ASJACW-LIST
Only official dispatches: no feedback, no flooded mailbox.
Check Before You Sign
A complete, searchable archive of ASJA Contracts Watch is available on the World Wide Web. Find it--with other valuable information and tips on freelance contracts, electronic rights and copyright--at the Web address below.
Inquiries and information from all are welcome.
Contracts Committee, ASJA
1501 Broadway, New York, NY 10036
tel 212-997-0947
fax 212-768-7414
e-mail ASJA[_at_]compuserve.com
Web page http://www.asja.org/cwpage.htm
Received on Tue Oct 14 1997 - 18:36:03 GMT
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.2.0 : Mon Mar 26 2007 - 00:35:27 GMT