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Collective Works - E-Rights in Individual Articles in Periodicals

June 2001 - New York Times Co. v. Tasini

The U. S. Supreme Court declared that freelance writers retained electronic rights in the articles they contributed to newspapers and magazines published on paper. The publishers only owned copyright in their newspapers and magazines as collective works, and could only reproduce and distribute the articles within the context of their respective newspapers and magazines as a whole. The Court determined that the publishers infringed the freelancers' copyrights by including their articles in databases that reproduced and distributed the articles "standing alone and not in context" of the original paper publications.

Therefore, periodical publishers who obtain copyrightable contributions from freelance writers should carefully review their contributor agreements before embarking on any electronic publishing projects.

Caution:

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