Archives for 2018

Masacre en Gaza

Palestinian protesters near the fence between Gaza and Israel. Hosam Salem for The New York Times   El lunes 14 de mayo, soldados israelíes mataron a 60 manifestantes palestinos en Gaza. Al menos 2.400 personas resultaron heridas, incluidos 13 periodistas. Según el Ministerio de Salud de Gaza, entre los muertos había ocho niños menores de 16 años, […]

Writers Ask U.S. Copyright Office for Copyright Registration Reform

Washington, DC, May 8, 2018 — Representatives of the NWU, the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA), the American Society of Journalists and Authors (ASJA), and the Authors Guild (AG) converged on Washington this week to call on the US Copyright Office to create a “group registration” procedure by which a writer could […]

David Hill Tells How to Pitch a Freelance Story

NWU First VP David Hill gave writers a powerful tutorial on working as a freelance journalist last night at the UAW conference rooms in NYC. He laid out in clear, concise language how he goes about pitching articles, how he builds long-term relationships with editors, many of whom move from publication to publication, and how […]

Application for ECL License in the UK withdrawn

The UK Copyright Licensing Agency (CLA) has withdrawn its application to the UK Intellectual Property Office (IPO) for a license to operate an Extended Collective Licensing (ECL) scheme that would have included all written works by US writers. The NWU had opposed this application as likely to interfere with the revenues of US writers from […]

Checks Are in the Mail for May Day!

As of today, International Workers’ Day, checks for approximately $9.5 million are in the mail to almost 2,500 freelance writers whose works were copied and distributed in electronic form by publishers of print periodicals who had neither paid for nor acquired digital rights to these articles. These payments today of millions of dollars to thousands […]

Labor Activists Strategize in Chicago

Several NWU members, including Ismael Parra, David Trujillo, and Eliane Bernard, attended the largest Labor Notes conference ever April 6-8 in Chicago. About 2,500 people from 25 countries, including more than 200 international guests, participated.   The Rev. William Barber of the Poor People’s Campaign greeted the massive crowd via a video  by saying, “Help save […]

Schivone on Staying Relevant as a Writer

Gabe Schivone spoke on April 11 at the NY UAW conference rooms about his experience writing for a  plethora of genres and platforms, from theatrical scripts to comic books, and nonfiction historical accounts to novels.   His talk was hugely informative and covered his start as a journalist by interviewing Naom Chomsky, pitching articles, and […]

NWU to Partner with VLA NY

NWU is partnering with Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts NY. This is a new member benefit that our members will have access to in navigating the difficult world of building a freelance writing career.  NWU became a non-profit institutional member of VLA and the first fruit of this new relationship is that VLA will represent […]

President’s April Column

A Time to Organize The Nautilus and Ebony campaigns have led to more requests for non-payment grievances (NPGs) and opened up more possibilities for building our union. These are more than grievances for us, they are also organizing campaigns. Based on Nautilus, we are discussing some ideas with National Association of Science Writers (NASW)  and […]

Remembering Carolyn Jacobson

Carolyn Jacobson, who successfully pressed the AFL-CIO into action on behalf of women in and out of unions, died in March at the age of 67. A 15-year member of NWU’s DC chapter, she lost a two-year battle to endometrial cancer on March 23. Ironically, greater attention to women’s health was one of the causes […]