Radio freelancers battle for copyright

February 04, 2015 Editor News amicopyrightfreelance contractstrouble spots

by Rachel Sanders

In the two and a half years since I've been the editor of Story Board, I've posted all kinds of news and opinion pieces about negotiations and disputes over freelance contracts.

The contracts in question have come from a wide variety of media outlets -- ranging from Canada Wide Media, to the Toronto Star, to TC Media. But none of them ever directly affected me.

With the way freelance contracts have been changing, though, it was bound to happen sometime.

This fall, Accessible Media Inc., a non-profit broadcaster that I'd been freelancing for, came to me with a new contract. Suddenly I was involved with a group of other radio freelancers in a negotiation over copyright and intellectual property.

You can read details about our contract stand-off in this post on Rabble.

Tyee Master Class in Vancouver: Creativity in the Digital Age

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Vancouver freelancers, The Tyee is beginning a new series of Master Classes and there's one this weekend that will be of interest to writers of all kinds. Creativity in the Digital Age will see copyright lawyer Martha Rans giving in-depth coverage to the complex and ever-changing issue of copyright."She’ll help participants understand how to…

Le Devoir: TC Media freelance contract changed

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The Montreal paper Le Devoir is reporting that TC Media – publisher of such magazines as Elle Canada, Style at Home and Canadian Living – has revised the contentious freelance contract that they introduced earlier this year. That contract demanded full copyright and a waiver of moral rights from its freelance contributors and provoked a…

This ain’t your parents’ advertorial

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The TC Media controversy Storified

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We've Storified the controversy over the new TC Media freelance agreement. Thank you to Simon Van Vliet for the original French version! [View the story "Freelancers react to contract imposed by Elle publisher" on Storify]

Are publishers delaying the magazines best practices guide?

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With the recent uproar over freelance contracts, the time seems ripe for change in the Canadian magazine industry. Last year Story Board reported on the long-awaited best practices guide for the magazine industry, a set of guidelines that could help establish professional standards for magazine freelancers, editors and publishers.The document has…

Intellectual property lawyer responds to TC Media agreement

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The new Transcontinental Media contributor agreement has raised a furor among freelancers over the past few weeks. TC Media, which publishes a variety of magazines including Canadian Living, Elle Canada, and The Hockey News, has increased the copyright demands in its new agreement and requires contributors to waive their moral rights.This week…

An Open Letter to Transcontinental by Jay Teitel

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Dear Transcontinental Media:In the past decade or so online theft of intellectual property has become not just a problem, but a cause celebre, with a lot of people who should know better claiming that all information belongs to everyone, gratis, and that appropriating a piece of writing a professional writer has executed, and then reproducing it…

Transcontinental Media responds

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Last month we told you about the new Transcontinental Media contributor agreement, an agreement that demands full copyright from freelancers as well as a waiver of moral rights.Story Board requested an interview with TC Media Senior Vice President Pierre Marcoux to ask about the reasons behind the changes to their agreement. We were granted an…

Transcontinental Media agreement expands copyright demands

February 08, 2013 Editor News cmgcopyrightfreelance contractstc mediatranscontinental mediatrouble spots

There’s a new Transcontinental Media contributor agreement and it’s not going to bring writers any joy.The publisher, whose most popular titles include Elle Canada, Canadian Living, Style at Home, The Hockey News and Vancouver Magazine, has made significant changes to the 2009 version of their agreement – an agreement that led to a boycott of…