ATTN Piazo: Dungeon mag and Dragon mag CD-roms & the Tasini v NY Times decision

http://www.nwu.org/tvt/tvthome.htm said:

Introduction to Tasini v NY Times
Tasini et al vs The New York Times et al is the landmark lawsuit brought by members of the National Writers Union against The New York Times Company, Newsday Inc., Time Inc., Lexis/Nexis, and University Microfilms Inc., charging copyright violation regarding the electronic reuse of work produced and sold on a freelance basis.
For decades, when freelance writers sold stories to American publications it was understood by all concerned that they were selling only First North American Serial rights which allowed the newspaper or magazine to publish the story in print one time. For freelance authors, retention of all other copy rights is crucial to their economic survival because a significant additional source of income comes from their ability to sell secondary rights such as syndication, translations, anthologies, and so forth, to other publications.
With the advent of electronic media including databases like Nexis, publishers such as Time/Warner and the Times/Mirror Company, the parent companies of Time and Newsday, have been selling freelance-authored material to electronic databases such as Nexis/Lexis without any additional payment or purchase of electronic rights from the original authors. They claim, without justification, that by purchasing First North American Serial rights they automatically gain electronic re- publication rights. Tasini et al vs The New York Times et al is going to establish that they are violating the copy rights of writers.
Copyright © 2000 by National Writers Union.

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frankthedm said:

Maybe this was already talked about [slightly old], but if not…

The Tasini case came up in one of my courses on library work [copyreich subjects]. I got to thinking this could be one of the reasons the archives of the magazine seem to be no-go. Dragon had a fair of in house work, but to my understanding of Dungeon , most adventures were done by “freelancers”.

So i got to wondering, did this have bearing on the plans of the CD roms or did the old contracts permit the electronic use of the works in dragon and dungeon?

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francisca said:

What was the outcome of the case? Or is it still pending?

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Statement
The Newspaper Guild (TNG) — Communications Workers of America (CWA)
From: Linda Foley
Sent: Wednesday, July 18, 2001
Subject: TNG-CWA resolution on Supremes' decision.

Resolution on Tasini Decision

The US Supreme Court recently ruled in Tasini v New York Times that freelance writers have the right to claim remuneration for electronic reuses of their work. The New York Times and AOL-Time Warner responded by deleting freelance articles from their electronic archives in a direct snub of the Supreme Court decision. Deleting the articles today will not wash way the significant liabilities facing publishers from years of infringement. Only sensible negotiations can lead to a resolution that is fair to all parties.

Therefore be it resolved that:

The TNG-CWA Sector Conference supports the Supreme Court decision regarding Tasini v. New York Times.

The TNG-CWA Sector Conference condemns the deletion of freelance articles from publishers' electronic archives.

The TNG-CWA Sector Conference urges publishers to negotiate in a timely fashion a fair resolution to compensate freelancers for electronic reuses of their work.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Back to the Lawsuit Home Page
Publication Rights Clearinghouse


Copyright © 2001 by National Writers Union.

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Derulbaskul said:

It was my understanding that the extraordinarily generous deal whereby Kenzer got certain rights to what is now Hackmaster, and also their special deal with respect to Kalamar, represent WotC's out-of-court settlement for using KotDT comics on the Dragon CD-ROM.

This would tend to suggest that the case you're quoting may be very well known in the WotC offices....

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http://www.sfwa.org/News/news3.htm
January, 1999

Call for authors involved in the WoTC/Dragon Magazine reprint CD



http://www.sfwa.org/News/classact.htm
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Call to authors involved in Dragon Magazine CD
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Science fiction and romance writer Rosemary Edghill (AKA eluki bes shahar) has called for authors whose works may be published in the upcoming Wizards of the Coast/Dragon Magazine CD to contact her regarding joining a class action suit against the publisher. Ms Edghill may be contacted at ELUKI@AOL.COM.

Wizards of the Coast intends to sell a CD Rom reprinting issues #1-#250 of Dragon magazine, without obtaining permission from the authors of the works. More information may be found in articles:

New CD from Wizards will not pay for rights
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New CD from Wizards will not pay for rights
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Wizards of the Coast intends to issue a CD Rom reprinting issues #1-#250 of Dragon magazine, without paying for the rights.

SFWA president Rob Sawyer has spoken to the CEO of Wizards, Peter Adkinson, who has said he will investigate the matter.

However, if you had a story or an article in the first 250 issues of Dragon, it is worth your while -- and a prudent step in the care of your career -- to write to WoTC and express your concern.

The gentleman in charge of the CD project is Anthony Valterra, Wizards of the Coast, P.O. Box 707, Renton, WA 98057-0707.

Sharon Lee execdir@sfwa.org
SFWA Executive Director



Copyright must be filed on upcoming WotC CD release Important Information for authors with stories in Dragon Magazine
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Copyright must be filed on upcoming WotC CD release
***********************************************************
Anyone contemplating legal action regarding the Wizards of the Coast CD (see previous article Wizards of the Coast to issue CD without paying for reprint rights) should be aware that Federal Registration of copyright may give certain benefits. You are recomended to file a FORM TX with the US Copyright Office. This copyrights your work - do not assume that WotC/TSR has done this through publication of the Work.

The form can be downloaded from the Library of Congress site: http://lcweb.loc.gov/copyright/. You will need to have Adobe Reader, available as a free download from www.adobe.com in order to do this.

When you send off the forms, include an stamped and self addressed envelope with the material. The Copyright Office will date-stamp it and mail it back. This will serve as your interim proof of registration, as there is currently a 4-6 month delay in processing applications.

It is important that these papers be filed before the CD-ROM is released. Having filed these papers could result in a stronger claim in any legal action.

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Derulbaskul
It was my understanding that the extraordinarily generous deal whereby Kenzer got certain rights to what is now Hackmaster, and also their special deal with respect to Kalamar, represent WotC's out-of-court settlement for using KotDT comics on the Dragon CD-ROM.

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johnsemlak said:

I've heard that the CD ROMs didn't sell very well. THey're still available 4 years later actually.

It's strange because it's hands down one of the best purchaces I've ever made. I'd easily go for a Dungeon archive

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