Ski & Skiing Mags Freelance Writers Say "NO!"

to AOL-TIME-Warner Insult

AOL/TIME Warner Forces Freelance Writers to Decide: "All-Rights" Contracts or Nothing"

By Jill E. Vaile

©2007,jill e vaile/jilleliz.com ALL RIGHTS RESERVED Previously published in the nwu's HearSay Magazine

From its inception, the merger of AOL/TIME Warner concerned the freelance writing world. The reasons quickly became apparent. On January 11, 2000, NWU President Jonathan Tasini issued a statement urging legislators and government regulators to consider the unseen implications of such a merger. He asked that they determine whether the "all-rights" contracts were indeed a violation of the United States Constitution. (Art.1, Sect.8)

For various reasons, AOL/TIME Warner instituted a policy of offering only non-negotiable "work for hire" contracts to freelance writers. This type of contract meant that anything AOL/TIME Warner published became their permanent property.

It excluded the writer from any rights.

Work-for-hire contracts became just another in a long list of disappointing examples of broken trust. It was no coincidence that these particular contracts were the only offer on the table. The fact that TIME was one of the defendants in the Tasini Supreme Court decision, made their "sudden appearance" no surprise. The message was loud and clear:

"We'll show you exactly what you won."

It is unfortunate that AOL/TIME Warner was too shortsighted to realize the tremendous value that freelance writers always bring to their publications. "Sore loser" business tactics are shameful. Financial issues do not motivate this decision. Under an equitable agreement, the payment to the writers would have been important- and completely insignificant to the Company. Thus, the issue became one of morality. In true "sore loser" fashion, they now tell the freelance writer:

"Not only will we dump your archived material to avoid paying you on that score, we'll take all of your rights from anything else you create."

What a sad message they send. It demeans these same hard-working writers, most of who gained nothing from the highly publicized Tasini decision. Instead, their "reward" is to get even less.

Mega-conglomerates run the show in media today. Each affected, or potentially affected, genre, must be diligent in maintaining their non-negotiable "fair play" stance when contracts, rights, publishing and compensation are at risk. To allow AOL/TIME Warner to dictate this way sets a disturbing precedent that can only result in less and less for the freelance writer.

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