Lawmakers Endorse Copyright Small Claims Court

Currently the only way to obtain damages for copyright infringement is a full-fledged lawsuit in Federal court, which can cost tens of thousands of dollars at best, and more often hundreds of thousands in a worst-case scenario. Hence there’s a reason for the phrase: “Make a Federal case out of it.”  That’s why key members […]

GSU Infringes on Writers’ Copyrights

In a “friend of the court” brief filed earlier this month, the NWU joined a diverse coalition of writers and photographers to oppose the wholesale scanning of books and journals that are being used for university classes without payment to the original authors or publishers. Instead of having students buy the books for their classes, […]

2016 Year in Review

All in all, it was a very busy year at NWU and we’re better off for it. The elections aside, we still have many challenges ahead, the main one being how to grow, be more active, and better serve our members while, at the same time, cutting back on spending. This is a perpetual riddle […]

NWU Defends Journalists Worldwide

We’ve recently reported on, and denounced, threats of vigilante violence and criminal prosecution against US journalists for doing their jobs. With the President-elect openly encouraging supporters to attack journalists at campaign rallies, we fear attacks on journalists who cover controversial topics in the US will escalate. While we speak out against attacks on US journalists, […]

International Solidarity, International Advocacy

In addition  to our international connections through the UAW, the NWU is affiliated with three international organizations specifically related to our work as writers. In November, I traveled to Europe to meet with them, representing the NWU at meetings of the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), the International Authors Forum (IAF), and the International Federation […]

French Law on “Out of Commerce” Books Struck Down

Acting on a lawsuit brought by French freelance authors and supported by the NWU, the European Union’s  Court of Justice has ruled that the French law permitting  distribution of digital copies of books deemed “out of commerce,” without the consent of the authors, violates their rights and is invalid. We think the court was correct […]

Trumped!

Where to begin? Maybe with Trump losing the popular vote by more than 2 million votes. Maybe, with openly racist and anti-Semitic Steve Bannon of Breitbart being named as Trump’s chief strategist. Maybe the Alt-Right conference giving Nazi salutes and yelling “Hail Trump!” or the KKK planning victory celebrations. Possibly we could start with the […]

Getting Help With Grievances

If you haven’t been paid for your work, your publisher said one thing and did another, or your story was turned into a video game and you haven’t seen a dime, the Grievance and Contracts Division is here to help. We’ve won over $1.5 million for members since we started keeping records. But before you […]

Freelance Isn’t Free Becomes Law in NYC!

On October 27, the NY City Council passed the landmark Freelance Isn’t Free bill into law. With a vote of 51-0, the City Council made New York City the first in the U.S. to make non-payment to freelancers and independent contract workers a crime. NWU is a cosponsor of the bill and well aware of […]

NWU Statement on the Firing of Maria Pallante

On Friday, October 21, Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden summarily removed Maria Pallante as Register of Copyright and Director of the U.S. Copyright Office, the position she had held since 2011. It was the first time the head of the Copyright Office had been removed in 119 years!  Ms. Pallante was reassigned as an advisor […]