PWAC hails settlement of rights suit as "a great achievement"

The president of the Professional Writers Association of Canada, Tanya Gulliver, has published a statement from the organization, praising Heather Robertson and the successful $11 million settlement of her 13-year class action lawsuit against some of Canada's biggest publishers. The suit concerned fair payment for the use of freelancers' articles in electronic databases. The statement said in part:

"As freelancers we want to be fairly compensated for the work that we do, and want to ensure that publishers recognize the value of our work. This settlement, stemming from the Supreme Court decision in 2006 that supported our position that freelancers own control of their work unless otherwise agreed upon, is historic and a great achievement for the freelance writing industry."

Heather Robertson was a founding member of PWAC (then the Periodical Writers Asssociation of Canada). The statement, published on the PWAC website, says that details of the settlement and a notice to claimants in the class action suit will be published Saturday in the Globe and Mail and the National Post.