B.C. freelance writers will be eligible to claim compensation under a $7.9 million settlement of an Ontario class action suit that argued publications infringed copyright by disseminating articles and other literary works in online databases without permission.
Named in the suit are Toronto Star Newspapers Ltd., Rogers Publishing Ltd., Canwest Publishing Inc. and their affiliates.
Class members include anyone who wrote for any of the named companies’ Canadian print publications and whose works have been further disseminated through electronic media.
It excludes anyone who assigned all of the copyright of their work to one of the defendants, anyone who granted licence for a work to be disseminated by electronic media, or anyone employed by one of the defendant companies when the work was created.
“This is a tremendous result for Canadian freelance writers,” Koskie Minsky LLP’s lead lawyer on the case, Kirk Baert, said in a statement released today.
“Class members saw their articles appearing in online databases without their express permission. This settlement provides compensation for that unexpected use.”
Koskie Minsky LLP’s Jonathan Bida, another lawyer on the case, confirmed that an official notice will appear in various newspapers and magazines in the coming weeks to explain how freelance writers covered by the class definition can make claims from the settlement funds.
He noted that writers who fall within the class but want to opt out of the settlement – the acceptance of which would end their ability to pursue further court action on the matter – will need to do so by July 31.
Jenny Wagler