The Supreme Court yesterday heard a case that could provide new
rules in the US on who owns the copyright in work stored in
electronic databases when it previously appeared in print
newspapers or magazines.
The case was one brought by six freelancers, led by a Mr Tasini,
against the New York Times and other major publishers who claim
that use of their articles in databases, whether on-line or on
CD-ROM, without compensation, is in breach of their copyrights. The
publishers argue that they are distributing revisions of works they
have paid for, which is legal under copyright law.
Much of yesterday’s oral arguments centred on when exactly the
alleged infringement took place – a question that the lawyer for
the writers, Larry Gold, struggled to answer, according to a report
by American Lawyer Media. The lawyer for the New York Times, Larry
Tribe, argued that the transmission of a newspaper’s contents to a
database was a modern-day successor to reproduction on microfilm,
which does not violate copyright. After the hearing, a commentator
said, “Larry did a great job for the publishers, no matter which
Larry you are talking about.”
The case is continuing; the publishers need a majority of five
court justices on their side to win their case.
If the writers win their case, the publishers stand to lose
large sums to many more freelance writers. The publishers argue
that they would be forced to strip their database archives, which
would prejudice future researchers, teachers and the public who
will rely on publishers' databases as historical records.
The writers are arguing over rights to articles written between
1990 and 1993. The standard practice today for publishers entering
into contracts with freelancers is to require the writer to give
the publisher the rights to both print editions and electronic
versions of the works.
Last week, in a separate case, a freelance photographer won a
similar case in a lower court (a federal appeals court) against the
National Geographic Society which published four of his magazine
photos in a CD-ROM anthology of the magazine.
