Copyright Ruling May Create Memory Hole

dublin writes: "C|Net's News.com reports that the recent US Supreme Court decision granting freelance writers stronger control over distribution of their work (a la RIAA) will result in the removal of large chunks of archived internet content from a large number of sites. The article reports that this will eliminate about 8-10% of the content at large publishers' sites. Will this marginalize freelance writers in favor of staff flacks more interested in the company line than the truth, concentrating even more power in the hands of the media moguls? What are the implications of that much content disappearing down the memory hole without a trace?" I bet a lot of lawyers are recasting boilerplate for future contracts about now, too.

Comments

I used to work for Rupert Murdoch

[cygnus]

Will this marginalize freelance writers in favor of staff flacks more interested in the company line than the truth, concentrating even more power in the hands of the media moguls?

yes, you read that subject right. i used to work as a journalist for K. Rupert Murdoch, of News Corp. fame. i've heard many accusations of bias in large corperate media institutions, but never do i hear a theory for how this actually occurs. do editors lean over the shoulders of writers and tell them to bias the news in corperate news organizations? the answer is no. here's the real skinny:

on everyone's desk at the Fox News Channel, the New York Post and other News Corp. properties is a Pilsbury Doughboy-sized replica of Rupert himself that watches your every move. any time you consider writing about things like the WTO protesters, Ralph Nader, or fluffy bunny rabbits, the Rupert replica will cluck his tounge or shake his head dissaprovingly.

this is why i enjoy being a freelance writer now, because i don't have to labor under the Rupert's watchful gaze.

seriously, does anyone think there's a difference between freelance and full-time journalists? the copy gets worked over by the same editors anyway.

This is a Good Thing

[Hard_Code]

Um, isn't this a Good Thing? I mean, now freelancers have *more* control over their own work. Why would one suggest that this would "marginalize freelance writers in favor of staff flacks"? Those freelance writers will divert their content to more freelance/independent-friendly publishers/outlets. It's sort of like saying "Giving artists more control might leave the big record labels with only retreaded pre-fabricated pop bands, that's *awful*!" GOOD. It will mean people turn away from the conventional media sources to alternative ones that better reward artists/authors.

Their own rules....

[BrynM]

On music:
RULING - Online distribution of copyrighted music is illegal.
People - But we thought we owned it since we bought it...
Time Warner - You merely bought the right to use it the way we see fit.

On Journalism:
RULING - Online distribution of copyrighted freelance jounalism is illegal.
Time Warner - But we thought we owned it since we bought it...
People - You merely bought the right to use it the way we see fit.

HAHAHAHAHahahahahahaha............

bm :)-~

Re:Memory hole is not necessary

[markmoss]

the major database holders will negotiate a settlement with the free lancers I'm sure they are working on it now. There are two problems that will slow this down and leave a few holes in regards to things from 1994 back to whenever they stopped keeping paper copies:

I doubt that maintaining an internet database generates all that much money, so they might have to crank their rates up a lot to be able to pay each freelancer a few bucks. And if you set the rates too high, most people just stay away...

To cover everything in some publications, you have to contact hundreds of freelancers. Even if you've got their phone #'s, this still takes quite a lot of time. And then there are the ones that retired or died -- tracking down people that have moved several times since they last sent you an article can be difficult and expensive, finding the heirs if the guy died is even harder.

It's possible that now that cash is in sight, the freelancers & their heirs will form an organization or hire an agency to represent them, to give the database makers one place (or a small number of agencies) to deal with, and to establish standard rates that are not so high as to kill the business. But freelancers being rather independent, you aren't going to see 100% of them joining...

meanwhile at slashdot ...

[s20451]

• Stimulus: Hey, Mathworld is down! CRC Press is claiming ownership over the internet version of the work!

  Response: Greedy corporate bastards! Think they can take away our free content!

• Stimulus: Hey, the Supreme Court ruled that freelance authors have rights over the internet versions of their works!

  Response: Greedy author bastards! Think they can take away our free content!

Sigh.