Free subscription instructions at the end. Please remember that we are not lawyers and that this is not legal advice, but business advice.

Contents:

* Lots of Contract News
* Feeding the Corporation
* What's Mine Is Mine, What's Yours Is Mine -- Not!
* Taking Your Own Advice
* Non-Compete Madness
* Wait. Strike that. Reverse it.
* Oh What a Tangled Web They Weave
* Finding a Writer: FreelanceWriterSearch.com
* Contract-savvy speakers available
* Contact
* CW Subscription instructions

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Lots of Contract News
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In the last issue we said that we're charging up to the trailing edge of technology. Obviously we're still learning to do it right. The blog entries are piling up, so you can expect a rush of new issues in rapid succession.

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Feeding the Corporation
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The lifeform known as the corporation is always hungry, most looking to expand their bulk by double digit percentages every year. As this press release (http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/060512/20060512005470.html?.v=1) from Rodale reminds us, a publisher will look to march through every field that can hope to offer profit. For Rodale - and, likely, many others, that means branded books, branded videos, branded online experiences. From what we've heard, that is going to include podcasts and possibly even audio versions of magazines available for download to a portable media player like an iPod. When a company wants to brand, it wants to own what it's branding so it can do as it likes. That means means keep a sharp eye on your contracts. Those Rodale titles that were willing to negotiate with writers might receive orders to become more reluctant. The potential uses of articles should also give a writer pause. Think that licensing a wide array of non-exclusive rights to a publisher is actually a good strategy? Best thin

k again if you ever hope to do anything with it. After all, how many sources of "you" can a market really sustain? And when your writing is absorbed by a company, particularly if the contract doesn't guarantee a byline, is it even you? Or is all that is left for the world to see a corporate brand?

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What's Mine Is Mine, What's Yours Is Mine -- Not!
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What do you do with your contracts after you've negotiated them, signed them, and filed them away? If you're smart, you occasionally check to see that they're not being violated. You could make a little spare cash that way. Earlier this year, a writer wrote a 1500-word article for one of Meredith's many magazines. Wisely, the writer refused to sign Meredith's Master Agreement, holding out instead for a FNASR-only contract. The writer also registered the copyright for the piece. Two months after the article ran, the article popped up on four different Meredith web sites -- one for the original magazine for which the piece had been written, and three others. (Do you routinely do a Google search on your own name? If not, here's proof you should.) The writer wrote a polite but firm letter to the web site director, with copies to the original magazine's EIC and Meredith's corporate counsel, informing them that they didn't have the right to use the article online. Meredith offered a flat fee of $50 for all electronic rights. The writer countered by asking $1 per word per web site. Meredith offered $250. The writer invoked the magic words "infringement of registered copyright." Abracadabra! The web site director agreed to pay the writer $1500 for the right to put the article up on the four sites in question and nowhere else. The two sides signed an agreement to that effect last week, and a check is supposedly being processed at this writing. Of course, accidents happen. Meredith admitted in this case that it simply assumed it had all rights without checking the actual contract. But the moral is that whether accidentally or on purpose, publishers sometimes ignore contract terms. Don't make the same mistake yourself.

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Taking Your Own Advice
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In this press release (http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/060515/20060515006001.html?.v=1), Blackwell Publishing, Elsevier, and Wiley-Liss say they are suing Research Associates for copying and distributing copyrighted articles without permission. "'Most document delivery service companies respect the copyrights of publishers and authors. But those who don't need to understand that copyright infringement inflicts significant financial harm on publishers, including those who publish on behalf of learned societies,' said Attorney William Strong of Kotin, Crabtree & Strong, LLP, a Boston law firm that represents the publishers. 'A substantial decline in royalties could cause them to cease publication of one or more journals. This would have an adverse impact on the scholarly community and on scientific progress by making it more difficult to publish worthwhile scientific research.'" We'd suggest that the publishers listen to their own rhetoric. Trying to force writers to sign all rights contracts may not be copyright infringement, but it sure makes it tough on them to make a living, and many academics are expected to give up copyright to get published. Perhaps the publishers might consider *licensing* rights and not assuming them as part of a publishing manifest destiny.

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Non-Compete Madness
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We were literally shocked on seeing the following in a master agreement for one of the Meredith titles: "Notwithstanding anything in this Agreement to the contrary, Creator shall not permit the Works, or, during the term of any Schedule hereto, permit any other work created by Creator, to be published in any magazine or Web site competitive to the Magazine or the Site, including, but not limited to, the magazines and Web sites set forth on Schedule A hereto." The "schedules" are the actual assignment, and Meredith can drag its feet as long as it wishes in publishing an article. So, depending on how you read this, either the writer cannot write for any competitor to that Meredith title or web site until the article is written, or until the article is published. In either case, we wonder why they don't just hire all the freelancers they use, since they seem clearly interested in writers not being able to make a living. Wonder if the IRS would consider this enough control over the business activities of the wri

ters to classify them as employees and drop the tax issues onto Meredith's corporate lap?

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Wait. Strike that. Reverse it.
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The reason we're highlighting this item from a press release (usually a sign that we're about to highlight something we find particularly offensive or silly) is because we couldn't immediately find a new item on Google. The children's movie is Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory and the headline for this item a bit of dialog. It will all make sense when you read about this case of a company that took umbrage at being the butt of some satire. In the end (pardon the pun), it was still the subject of satire - the judge's.

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Oh What a Tangled Web They Weave
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A MEDIAWEEK article (http://www.mediaweek.com/mw/news/recent_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1002577570) tells how start-up web-based syndicator Mochila has signed up Hearst as a client. This paragraph from the story is telling: "The idea behind the open marketplace is to open up content syndication to a wider pool of publishers, including those which may be unable to pony up full subscription fees for other content syndication services." In other words, if you license any kind of work - writing, photos, video, or audio - to a publisher and give it a wide range of non-exclusive rights, you might find other companies that might have purchased resales in the past could go to this site, or another like it, and pick up your work. It extends the sales reach of the publishers - and extends the number of secondary outlets that you might lose. Oh, and you might like to go to the bottom of the article and see some of the other "small" names already associating themselves with this approach.

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Finding a Writer: FreelanceWriterSearch.com
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Need a Writer, Editor, or Editorial Project Manager?
ASJA Freelance Writer Search, a service of the American Society of Journalists and Authors, connects those who need writers with more than 1,200 writers who have met exacting standards of professional achievement. Use Freelance Writer Search to locate writers for a wide range of editorial projects including books, articles, newsletters, corporate communications, ghostwriting, web copy, scriptwriting, speechwriting, and much more. Listings are free. For more information, visit http://www.freelancewritersearch.com.

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Contract-savvy speakers available
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The ASJA Contract Committee has speakers available on the subject of contracts. Because we are all volunteers, there is no guarantee that we can satisfy each request, but we do try. So if you'd like someone to come speak to your group, let us know.

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CW RSS and Blog
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Get Contracts Watch as it happens with an RSS reader. Put "http://www.asja.org/cw/cw.xml" into your RSS reader. For the blog, go to http://www.ContractsWatch.com.

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Contact
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Got a question or a contract?

Fax questions or contracts to 415-532-1324, including your email address for a response. To send an email, go to http://www.asja.org/contact.php and use our Web form. (Sorry, but the email was getting clogged with spam.) We do have three requirements to review a contract. First, you must name the publisher, as it helps us aid others in the future. Second, it must be a commercial publisher and not a vanity publishing house that makes its money off you. Third, you must read through the contract yourself and explain your concerns. We'll look through the whole document anyway, but things go better if you are really involved in the process.

The American Society of Journalists and Authors encourages reproduction and distribution of this document for the benefit of freelance writers and photographers, and other publishing content creators. Reprint or post as many items as you wish, but please credit ASJA for the information and don't change the content.