September 27, 1999 NEW YORK

In a unanimous September 24th ruling in Tasini v. New York Times, a federal appeals court ruled that three major publishers could not include the work of freelance contributors in electronic databases without their permission.

The Second Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a federal district court decision against the plaintiffs in Tasini et al.v. New York Times et al. The appeals court ruled that the reuse of freelance work on databases and CD-ROMs without the authors' express permission constitutes copyright infringement. This is a major victory for all independent creators.

According to the New York Times, the ruling "could force the companies to offer electronic rights payments for everything from opinion pieces for OP-Ed pages to full-length magazine articles and to photographs and graphics." The Tasini v. New York Times decision is expected to send shockwaves throughout the media industry, which now faces the threat of widespread copyright infringement actions. Attorneys for the publishers have not yet announced whether they will appeal the decision.

For more information about the decision as well as the full text of the ruling, visit the National Writers Union website at www.nwu.org.