Some of you PEN-L authors might be interested in the following: WRITERS UNION CALLS FOR FULL RECOGNITION OF WRITERS RIGHTS IN ELECTRONIC-BOOK CONTRACTS New York, April 24, 1994--The National Writers Union (NWU) today called on electronic publishers to accept a strong set of principles on writers' rights as the industry begins creating original works in electronic form. "The prospect of electronic books is exciting, but we want to be sure that the status of writers is not diminished as publishers develop titles expressly for new media such as CD-ROM," said NWU President Jonathan Tasini. "The rights that authors enjoy in print-book contracts should be carried over--and in some cases expanded--as publishers take advantage of new technologies." As part of its effort to assert writers' rights in new media, the NWU today released a position paper containing a Statement of Principles that the union believes should be observed in contracts between writers and electronic-book publishers. "We hope that the industry realizes that adopting principles such as these will be essential in encouraging the most talented members of the writing community to make the leap from print to the digital world," Tasini said. "In this way it will also be essential," Tasini added, "in ensuring that the greatest range of materials find their way into electronic form. Diversity ultimately depends on the fair treatment of writers." Tasini noted that the NWU position paper also addresses the public interest by arguing in favor of policies that would make the new information technology available as widely as possible by keeping down the price of electronic books and by subsidizing access to them through libraries and other non-profit institutions. "Electronic publishers and authors should work together to ensure that the new technologies are not only available to a small, relatively affluent portion of the population," Tasini said. "Democratizing electronic books is the right thing to do politically, but it is also essential in creating the kind of mass market necessary for the survival of the publishing industry." "There has been growing tension between publishers and authors over control of rights relating to the adaptation of print works for electronic media," said Philip Mattera, co-chair of the NWU's National Book Campaign. "But that is only part of the problem. Increasingly, books will originate in electronic form, and we need to define the role of the writer in these arrangements." Mattera, who drafted the NWU's position paper, acknowledged that in electronic books that combine text with video, audio and other multimedia elements, the writer may no longer be the center of attention. "This does not mean, however, that the writer should be relegated to second-class status, with no claim on copyright and no creative control of the work." Mattera said that the key elements of the NWU's position paper include the following: - Writers should retain the copyright on texts prepared for electronic books, while copyrights on other creative elements are retained by their creators. It is only when writers are brought in to do minimal amounts of text for a product that is primarily visual and/or audio in nature that writers should be retained on a work-for-hire basis. - Writers should retain ultimate creative control for electronic books that consist primarily of text, and they should share that control with other creators in the case of multimedia works. - Publishers should be granted publishing rights only for the particular electronic products being planned; rights that are not exercised after some reasonable amount of time should revert to the writer. - Royalty rates for electronic books should be higher than for print ones to reflect lower costs of production. - Given that the concept of being in or out of print changes radically in the electronic realm, publishing rights should revert to an author when the publisher ceases to market a title actively. The National Writers Union, an affiliate of the United Auto Workers, is a labor union representing book authors, journalists, technical writers, poets and all other freelance writers. It has locals in 11 cities and at-large membership for those living elsewhere. It offers grievance handling, contract advice, health insurance and many other services. For more information on the NWU, call (212) 254-0279 or email [EMAIL PROTECTED] FOR THE COMPLETE TEXT OF THE ELECTRONIC BOOKS POSITION PAPER (16K), EMAIL PHILIP MATTERA: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
