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 […]

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 […]

GCD Semi-Annual Report Available

The Grievance and Contract Division’s semi-annual report, covering the first half of 2016, is available here. We hope you’ll take the time to read it and learn more about what we do. One of our chief functions is reviewing traditional publishers’ contracts, as well as those of firms that help you self-publish. We offer guidance […]

My IP Got Pirated: How I Took It Down

You wrote a book and it’s been published, either traditionally or by you. Now you can focus on promoting it. But if you own the copyright, you have another task in this digital age: Protecting your work on the Internet. Recently, I did a Google search for my book, Writing Well in the 21st Century: […]

What’s Mine is Mine!

In 1976 I made a half hour video about the artist Norman Lewis, a personal friend. Nineteen years later I sold a few copies at a very nominal cost of the copyrighted film to a few people who were also friends of Norman Lewis for their personal use. Twenty years after that when visiting a […]

Beware of Lone Wolves

When members come to us with grievances for nonpayment against reputable publishers or corporate clients, we can usually help them get their money. Yet more and more of our grievances are against lone wolves: scam artists who hide, change identities, or just plain ignore writers’ claims. A lot of them run blogs, which they start […]

EVERYTHING YOU ALWAYS WANTED TO KNOW ABOUT THE GCD

The Grievance and Contract Division’s semi-annual report for the second half of 2015 has just been posted here. We hope you’ll take the time to peruse it. The GCD is made up of about twenty volunteers at any given time. A lot of people think that all we do is collect money for writers who […]

Tax Tips for Writers

NWU member and tax accountant Therese Francis spoke at a recent NorCal event. These are points she covered in her talk on taxes for writers: Think like a business, look like a business, be seen as a business and, most of all, take advantage of tax laws for businesses. The IRS recognizes two types of […]

“Freelance Isn’t Free” Advances in the NY City Council

New York City – February 29: “The company closed, the owners took the furniture and equipment out of the office and disappeared. There was no bankruptcy, no one was notified—they simply closed…Freelancers got nothing! The total loss to 40 workers exceeds $300,000. I was owed more than $20,000.” That was a part of NWU VP […]

NWU VPs Testimony to the NY City Council

Mauricio Niebla Thank you for the opportunity to speak today about my experience as a freelancer.My name is Mauricio Niebla, I’m a writer, and as most writers, I am a freelancer. I have been a freelancer my entire professional life, for almost 30 years. I have been unpaid for jobs many times, but the most […]