Friday, September 24th, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals overturned a lower court, in Tasini v. New York Times Co.

"On cross motions for summary judgment, the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York held that appellees' use of the articles was protected by the privilege afforded to publishers of ‘collective works’ under Section 201(c) of the Copyright Act of 1976 ("Act" or "1976 Act"), 17 U.S.C. § 201(c). We reverse and remand with instructions to enter judgment for appellants."

In Tasini six free lance writers alleged that the New York Times. had infringed various copyrights by putting individual articles previously published in periodicals on electronic databases. In August of 1997, the U.S. District Court in Manhattan ruled that for CD-ROMs and some data bases, publishers could reproduce without permission.

Paul Levinson, PHD, President of Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America comments, "I'm delighted with the Court's decision to reverse Tasini. SFWA's position -- in our dealings with Wizards of the Coast, and, indeed, with all other publishers -- has been that authors must be compensated for their work, and that their copyrights must be respected."

"The original Tasini decision, which the Court has now wisely overturned, would have made a mockery of author's rights in our society. It was based on a serious lack of comprehension of the nature of the electronic publishing. By reversing this decision, the Court has enabled authors to participate as full partners in publishing in the new millennium. The new decision should encourage publishers everywhere to do the right thing. Authors everywhere should applaud this."

Additionally, Christine Valada, SFWA Attorney comments, "The decision of the Second Circuit in recognizing the rights granted to creators by the Copyright Act of 1976 is to be commended. That creators, with their limited resources, have been able to overcome big business in this matter is a credit to our system of justice and its checks and balances. SFWA should be proud to have supported the brief of the American Society of Media Photographers and the other creators organizations which joined in this fight."

"The price of creators rights is eternal vigilance. It has been 10 years since the Supreme Court ruled that work for hire in the copyright setting is an extremely limited concept, yet work for hire permeates the publishing industry in ways it was never intended and cannot be supported by written law. A win in Tasini is just a small step in the work which continues to secure to "authors and inventors the rights to their inventions and writings" as guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution."

The Court's decision was not reported in the Saturday, September 25, 1999 online edition of the New York Times.

More information is available in New York Law Journal at http://www.nylj.com/stories/99/09/092799a1.htm

Background on Tasini is available at http://www.sfwa.org/News/tasini.htm.

Posted September-25-1999

Comments from the National Writers Union http://www.nwu.org/tvt/9909vic.htm -10/03