SoloJourno

Via J-Source.ca:

The Electronic Rights Defence Committee (ERDC) has announced that a group of freelance writers won authorization from the Quebec Superior Court to pursue a class action law suit against the Montreal Gazette, Canwest and other related companies for republishing freelance articles in the Infomart database without compensation to the writers.

The ERDC press release stated:

At issue is electronic use without permission or compensation for work by freelance writers in The Montreal Gazette. The defendants are the Montreal Gazette Group, CanWest Global Communications, Hollinger Canadian Publishing Holdings, CanWest Interactive, Southam and Southam Business Communications, Infomart Dialog and Cedrom-SNI.

In February 2008, the Honourable Eva Petras, J.S.C., heard three days of arguments from Mireille Goulet - the ERDC lawyer, and a team of lawyers representing the defendants. The Justice’s decision was rendered March 31, 2009. It authorizes the ERDC to institute class action proceedings with writer and translator David Homel as its official designated member. The class action group includes all freelance writers whose articles, originally published in The Gazette, have been allegedly illegally reproduced on the Infomart data base since 1984.

The next steps will lead toward a trial on the merits of the case, a process which may take several years to reach a conclusion.

The ERDC case is one of several in North America seeking compensation for unauthorized electronic use of freelance writers’ work. In October 2007, the Canadian Supreme Court ruled five to four in the Heather Robertson vs. Thomson case that freelancers do indeed hold copyright on their work reproduced in electronic data bases. The US$ 18-million class action settlement in the United States which followed from the Tasini vs. New York Times case is currently before the US Supreme Court, which has agreed to decide whether a lower court has jurisdiction to approve settlement agreements. The Association des journalistes indépendants du Québec (AJIQ) is also currently in the process of undertaking a class action against several Quebec media providers.

Link to judgment (in English) http://www.jugements.qc.ca/ (Search for Superior Court decisions in March 2009, cour superieure, keyword: ERDC)

Via ars technica:

Is the end of ad-supported “free” online news upon us? A new venture called [url-http://www.journalismonline.com/]Journalism Online[/url] believes that online news needs to start charging subscription fees, and it wants to be the one-stop subscription site that makes it all possible. Backed by some heavy hitters, the company could reshape the online news ecosystem.

The Internet is quickly destroying the need for newspapers to run printing presses, distribute papers around the city, and employ newspaper carriers, but the cost savings have come with revenue losses, too: most newspapers offer their online content without subscription fees, supported only by ads. A group of media executives has just announced Journalism Online, a new way for newspapers to start charging for online subscription fees. Will it save journalism?

“We have formed Journalism Online, because we think this is a special moment in time when there is an urgent need for a business model that allows quality journalism to be the beneficiary of the Internet’s efficient delivery mechanism rather than its victim,” said cofounder Steven Brill. “We believe we have developed a strategy and a set of services that will establish that model by restoring a stream of circulation revenue to supplement advertising revenue, while taking advantage of the savings to be gained from producing and delivering content electronically.”

Read the full article. Note: some of the comments are really quite amusing. From the Journalism Online site:

Media Leaders Form Journalism Online, LLC

Company Will Be Global Platform for Easy Payment Option Enabling New Revenue Models For News In Time of Crisis

April 14, 2009 – Citing “the urgent need” for a comprehensive, immediate plan to address the downward spiral in the business of publishing original, quality journalism, experienced journalism and media industry executives Steven Brill, Gordon Crovitz, and Leo Hindery today announced the formation of Journalism Online, a company that will quickly facilitate the ability of newspaper, magazine and online publishers to realize revenue from the digital distribution of the original journalism they produce.

“We have formed Journalism Online because we think this is a special moment in time when there is an urgent need for a business model that allows quality journalism to be the beneficiary of the Internet’s efficient delivery mechanism rather than its victim,” said co-founder Steven Brill. “We believe we have developed a strategy and a set of services that will establish that model by restoring a stream of circulation revenue to supplement advertising revenue, while taking advantage of the savings to be gained from producing and delivering content electronically.”

Click here to read the full press release and bios of the founders.