''New York Times Co. v. Tasini'', 533 U.S. 483 (2001), is a leading decision by the
United States Supreme Court on the issue of
copyright in the contents of a
newspaper database. It held that ''
The New York Times'', in licensing back issues of the newspaper for inclusion in electronic databases such as
LexisNexis
LexisNexis is a part of the RELX corporation that sells data analytics products and various databases that are accessed through online portals, including portals for computer-assisted legal research (CALR), newspaper search, and consumer informa ...
, could not license the works of
freelance
''Freelance'' (sometimes spelled ''free-lance'' or ''free lance''), ''freelancer'', or ''freelance worker'', are terms commonly used for a person who is self-employed and not necessarily committed to a particular employer long-term. Freelance w ...
journalists contained in the newspapers.
The lawsuit brought by members of the UAW's
National Writers Union against the
New York Times Company,
Newsday Inc.,
Time Inc.
Time Inc. was an American worldwide mass media corporation founded on November 28, 1922, by Henry Luce and Briton Hadden and based in New York City. It owned and published over 100 magazine brands, including its namesake ''Time'', ''Sports Illu ...
,
University Microfilms International, and LexisNexis. The freelance writers, including lead plaintiff
Jonathan Tasini
Jonathan Bernard Yoav Tasini (born October 18, 1956) is an American political strategist, organizer, activist, commentator and writer, primarily focusing his energies on the topics of work, labor and the economy. On June 11, 2009, he announced th ...
, charged
copyright infringement due to the use and reuse in electronic media of articles initially licensed to be published in print form. In a 7–2 ruling delivered by
Justice Ginsburg, the Court affirmed the copyright privileges of freelance writers whose works were originally published in
periodicals and then provided by the
publishers to electronic
databases
In computing, a database is an organized collection of data stored and accessed electronically. Small databases can be stored on a file system, while large databases are hosted on computer clusters or cloud storage. The design of databases span ...
without explicit permission of, or compensation to, the writers. As a result of the decision,
plaintiffs won a compensation pool of $18 million.
History
The case was initially heard in the
district court of Judge
Sonia Sotomayor
Sonia Maria Sotomayor (, ; born June 25, 1954) is an American lawyer and jurist who serves as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. She was nominated by President Barack Obama on May 26, 2009, and has served since ...
, who held that the publishers were within their rights according to the
Copyright Act of 1976
The Copyright Act of 1976 is a United States copyright law and remains the primary basis of copyright law in the United States, as amended by several later enacted copyright provisions. The Act spells out the basic rights of copyright holders, co ...
. This decision was reversed on appeal, and the Supreme Court affirmed the appellate court's reversal.
Aftermath
The decision involved works generated by 27,000 authors, but it did not allocate any bargaining power to them. The New York Times Company responded to the decision by drafting an ultimatum for the authors. The authors could contact the ''Times'' and request that it continue to distribute their works online, but only on the conditions that the authors ask for no additional payment and that they release the ''Tasini'' decision's legal claim on the ''Times'' and the database licensees. Future freelance contracts with the ''New York Times'' included similar terms that allowed the ''Times'' to exploit the works in whatever ways the future may reveal.
See also
* ''
New York Times Co. v. Sullivan
''New York Times Co. v. Sullivan'', 376 U.S. 254 (1964), was a landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision ruling that the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution's freedom of speech protections limit the ability of American public officials to sue for ...
'' (1964)
* ''
New York Times Co. v. United States'' (1971)
*
List of United States Supreme Court cases, volume 533
References
Further reading
*
*
*
*
External links
*
''N.Y. Times'' statement about the ruling
{{USArticleI
United States Supreme Court cases
United States Supreme Court cases of the Rehnquist Court
United States copyright case law
United States labor case law
2001 in United States case law
History of the United Auto Workers
The New York Times