Robertson wins groundbreaking freelance suit after more than a decade of struggle

“The central issue on this appeal is whether newspaper publishers are entitled as a matter of law to republish in electronic databases freelance articles they have acquired for publication in their newspapers — without compensation to the authors and without their consent. In our view, they are not."

With those words, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled (go here for the complete judgement) that publishers cannot do whatever they want with freelance-written articles. It is the culmination of a court struggle of more than a decade in the class action suit Heather Robertson et al v Thomson Corporation et al. It focussed around the posting on three Globe and Mail electronic databases of articles written by freelancer Robertson, without payment or permission. The Globe maintained it had a right to do this; Robertson said they did not. And the Supreme Court agrees with the freelancer.

The Professional Writers Association of Canada (PWAC) commented on the ruling:

Today’s ruling in favour of freelance writer and longtime PWAC member Heather Robertson has upheld freelance writers’ ownership control of the work they produce (a fundamental tenet of copyright law), and helped to clarify the legal position of independent media workers in their contractual relationships with clients...

“It is never pleasant to take a respected business partner to court,” commented PWAC President Suzanne Boles, “and Heather Robertson put her career on the line for this class action. She has done heroic service to the business of writing in Canada.”

“In the last decade, Canadian media have increased their reliance on freelancers to produce the content they use,” added PWAC Executive Director John Degen. “The Supreme Court has now clarified the position of creators under copyright law, and the position of an important and growing media sector – the independent contractor.”

CBC.ca coverage
Toronto Star coverage