ERDC

ERDC members are invited to a meeting of the ERDC executive at 10 a.m. Wednesday, December 7 at the offices of Sylvestre, Fafard, Painchaud, 740 Atwater, Montreal (not far from either the Lionel Groulx or the Atwater metros).

On the agenda will be the progress toward settlements, timeline for court proceedings, as well as the payout plan.

Jack Ruttan, ERDC Secretary
Mary Soderstrom, ERDC Chair

Dear ERDC Members and supporters,

The folks at Koskie Minskie LLP Barristers and Solicitors pass on this timely reminder:

We want to remind freelance writers that the deadline to submit claims is October 15 and encourage them to make their claims as soon as possible. [...]

Class members are reminded that the deadline for submitting claims is October 15, 2011. Any class member seeking compensation should submit their claims for compensation to the claims administrator, Duff & Phelps Canada
(www.duffandphelps.com/freelanceclaims),
as soon as possible.

(please see the category “Heather Robertson vs. Toronto Star et al.” for forms and further information on claiming in this important action.)

Jack Ruttan, ERDC Secretary

The deadline for filing in the second Robertson class action is coming up October 15, 2011. Here’s the link to the website where you can download the claim forms.
http://www.duffandphelps.com/freelanceclaims/Pages/default.aspx

You’ll note that Heather Robertson started this class action mainly against the Toronto Star but several other publications have been added. Be sure and check out the list, which includes the Montreal Star.

The ERDC’s lawyers say that when you file your claim you don’t have to include the database on which your article was reproduced. What’s important is the date and where your articles were published originally..

If you’ve kept records of your publications, your job will be easy, but if you haven’t there are ways to find out the necessary information. Many municipal libraries subscribe to ProQuest (one of the defendants) or a similar database and you can do a search of that database using
your name. This will turn up a list of your publications.

If no library near you subscribes to such a database, you may be able to access one through the library of a university you attended (will require communicating with the library staff by phone or e-mail) or asking a friend with access to a municipal or university library to do the search for you.

Once you’ve made your list with the dates of original publication and the publications in which your articles appeared, attach it to your claim form and send them off.

Have fun!

By the way, we hope to have news about winding up the ERDC case soon.

Jack Ruttan, ERDC secretary

Mary Soderstrom, ERDC president

Dear ERDC (Electronic Rights Defence Committee) Members and Supporters,

1) A message from representatives for Heather Robertson’s class action against the Toronto Star et al.–

Class members are reminded that the deadline for submitting claims is October 15, 2011. Any class member seeking compensation should submit their claims for compensation to the claims administrator, Duff & Phelps Canada (http://www.duffandphelps.com/freelanceclaims), as soon as possible. Class members should also note that the publication list has been finalized; there will be no more changes.

2) A message from Mireille Goulet and Catherine Sylvestre, ERDC legal representatives:

CAN FREELANCERS WHO WROTE IN THE GAZETTE FILE A CLAIM IN BOTH THE ROBERTSON CLASS ACTION AND THE ERDC CLASS ACTION?

We believe that the analysis as to whether a freelancer can claim in a case or the other should be done for each work or article written.

The group of members in the Robertson case is slightly different than the group of members in the ERDC case. There is a part of the groups that overlap and another that is different.

Therefore, for certain work a claim might be made in one class action or the other, for other work a claim can only be made in one of the class actions only.

LICENCE AGREEMENTS TO DISSEMINATE THE WORK IN THE ELECTRONIC MEDIA

Freelancers who signed a contract or licence agreement with Canwest to disseminate their work in the electronic media are specifically excluded from the group in the Robertson case. This exclusion applies only for the work published and/or disseminated during the period in which the licence applied. Therefore, the claim of these freelancers for work published and/or disseminated in electronic media during that period could be refused on that basis in the Robertson class action.

However, this would not affect the right of those freelancers to file a claim in the Robertson case for work published and/or disseminated in another period during which no licence applied.

In the ERDC class action, there is no such exclusion for works under licence. The work published and/or disseminated in the electronic media in the period during which a licence applied is included and a claim could be filed for it in the ERDC class action.

WORK DISSEMINATED IN THE ELECTRONIC MEDIA WITH NO LICENCE AGREEMENT APPLIED

Some work can justify the filing of a claim in both class actions. In such a situation, if a freelancer decides to file his or her claim in the Robertson case and received compensation for a particular work he or she has written, it is probable that he or she will not be able to receive compensation in the ERDC case for the same work.

If a member receives payment for a claim in the Robertson case for a specific work, he or she gives a waiver to Canwest for that specific work. Therefore, there could be opposition if the same member wants to file another claim for the same work in the ERDC case.

If a claim is filed in the Robertson case but rejected, that does not affect the right of the member to file a claim in the ERDC class action for the same work.

Hoping this will help you to prepare your claim(s) in one of the class actions and/or the other.

Jack Ruttan, ERDC Secretary

Mary Soderstrom, ERDC Chair

The second Heather Robertson case–this one started against the Toronto Star and now including several other publications and news databases including ProQuest–has had the deadline for filing extended to October 15, 2011. Among the publications in the settlement is the Gazette.
http://www.duffandphelps.com/freelanceclaims/Pages/default.aspx

The ERDC lawyers suggest that ERDC members start preparing their claims, but hold off on sending them in until our lawyers have gone through all the fine print of settlement.

Jack Ruttan, secretary
Mary Soderstrom, president.

Here’s an important message in relation to the settlement in Heather Robertson’s recent class action on behalf of freelancers against the Toronto Star Newspapers, and other defendants. This comes to the ERDC courtesy of Koskie Minskie LLP, and any questions about it should be directed to them.

As you may know, the claims process has begun and class members are now able to submit their claims to the claims administrator (Duff & Phelps). The deadline for claims is October 15, 2011. As explained in the notices, the claim form and other information about the claims process can be obtained from the administrator’s website www.duffandphelps.com/freelanceclaims or our website www.kmlaw.ca/freelanceclassaction.

I also attach copies of the claim form (English and French) and the accompanying instructions for making claims (English and French) should you wish to post them on your site or otherwise distribute them.

Please note that anyone making a claim can contact the claims administrator directly if they have any questions about what to include in their claims. The claims administrator will be reviewing the claims and will ultimately determine whether to allow them.

The administrator can be reached at

Duff & Phelps Canada
80 Richmond Street West Suite 2000
Toronto, Ontario M5H 2A4
Telephone: +1 416 361 2590
Fax: +1 416 364 2904
Email address: dp.Claimsadministrator@duffandphelps.com
Web: www.duffandphelps.com/freelanceclaims

Here are links to PDF versions of the actual claim forms themselves in French and English, with separate forms containing instructions on how to claim:

http://erdc.ca/Claim_Form_(FINAL).pdf
http://erdc.ca/Claim_form_instruction_sheet-(FINAL).pdf

http://erdc.ca/Claims_Form_French_(FINAL).pdf
http://erdc.ca/Claim_form_instruction_sheet_French_(FINAL).pdf

Here are links to PDFs in English and French describing the May 31, 2011 settlement reached in Heather Robertson’s class action against the Toronto Star Newspapers, and other defendants.

http://erdc.ca/ENGLISH_NOTICE_OF_APPROVAL_(long)_May_31,_2011.pdf
http://erdc.ca/FRENCH_NOTICE_OF_APPROVAL_(long)-May_31_2011.pdf

Ms. Robertson has also won the 2011 Graeme Gibson Award, from The Writers Union of Canada. You can read about that in a PDF linked here, which also describes a lot of the brilliant work Ms. Robertson has done in the area of electronic rights for freelancers in Canada.

Dear ERDC Members, and Friends:

This is a reminder that the Electronic Rights Defence Committee’s (ERDC) Annual General Meeting will happen in 5 days. Mark it on your calendar, if you haven’t already:

The Electronic Rights Defence Committee’s (ERDC) Annual General Meeting will be held at:

7:30 p.m.
Monday, March 28, 2011
in the offices of Sylvestre Fafard Painchaud
740 Atwater
Montreal

Seeing me struggle to write down another resolution created simultaneously by 3 writers is worth the visit!

On a side note, this is important e-rights news for authors, forwarded by our Chair, Mary S.:
http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/digital/content-and-e-books/article/46571-google-settlement-is-rejected.

Jack Ruttan, Secretary
Mary Soderstrom, President

http://erdc.ca

The Electronic Rights Defence Committee’s (ERDC) Annual General Meeting will be held at:

7:30 p.m.
Monday, March 28, 2011
in the offices of Sylvestre Fafard Painchaud
740 Atwater
Montreal

A proposed agenda will be sent out before the meeting. It will include election of the executive committee, and an update on our case, plus items to be determined closer to the date.

Jack Ruttan, Secretary
Mary Soderstrom, President

Download it in pdf form here.