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 […]

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 […]

We Stand With The Arizona Republic

When I was growing up in Arizona, it was rare to see my home state hit the national news. One of the first times I saw it happen was in the Summer of 1976, when Don Bolles, a reporter for the Arizona Republic, was killed by a bomb planted in his car. He was killed […]

Privacy vs. Copyright: Don’t Make Writers Choose

The National Writers Union (NWU) and the American Society of Journalists and Authors (ASJA) filed comments October 17 with the US Copyright Office in response to pressure writers face in choosing between privacy and copyright protection. The Copyright Office recently proposed regulations by which writers—for a minimum $130 fee—could restrict some public access to the […]

Strike Against Racist Police Terror

Three more unarmed black men have been shot and killed by the police. They include a teenager with a BB gun in Columbus, OH; a young man with his hands in the air returning from class in Tulsa, OK; and a man sitting in his car, reading a book in Charlotte, NC. The police who […]