More than 3,000 writers initially filed claims pertaining to more than 600,000 articles. After all the challenges and delays, 2494 writers received checks totaling $9,456,000.
Catching up with PW's Andrew Albanese
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After 17 years of legal disputes, the settlement of a long-running class action lawsuit over digital publishing rights concluded this week when some 2500 freelance writers received payments. Wrangling over the settlement itself followed a landmark Supreme Court decision in New York Times v. Tasini, which had originated in 1993 when then National Writers Union president Jonathan Tasini and other freelance writers sued the Times and several other major publications for copyright infringement.
“According to the Authors Guild, more than 3,000 writers initially filed claims pertaining to more than 600,000 articles, and in the final tally, after all the challenges and delays, 2494 writers were mailed checks totaling $9,456,000 in compensation. The publisher defendants were also responsible for paying attorneys’ fees and costs totaling $3,906,000. Claims administration expenses of $889,000,” reports Andrew Albanese, Publishers Weekly senior writer.
In a press release, the Authors Guild stated that “a few writers will receive payouts in the hundreds of thousands of dollars,” with the amounts calculated upon several factors, including whether authors registered the individual works with the U.S. Copyright Office.
“At this point, we don’t know what the median payment was, but if you do a little simple math, you can get an average payment of about $3,800,” Albanese tells CCC’s Chris Kenneally.
Every Friday, CCC’s “Beyond the Book” speaks with the editors and reporters of “Publishers Weekly” for an early look at the news that publishers, editors, authors, agents and librarians will be talking about when they return to work on Monday.
