Archive for June, 2010

For release: Monday, June 28, 2010, 5 a.m.

Good News and Not So Good News in ERDC-Canwest Settlement:
Electronic Rights Recognized, But Compensation to Be Less Than Hoped

The Electronic Rights Defence Committee (ERDC) wishes that its settlements with parts of the Canwest communication empire would result in a lot more money in the pockets of freelance writers, but is pleased that the settlements include explicit recognition of the importance of protecting electronic rights and the need to compensate writers fairly for the use of their material.

The Honourable Justice Eva Petras of the Quebec Superior Court approved the settlements June 18, 2010. In March 2009, she had authorized the ERDC to proceed with a $33 million class action, originally begun in 1997, on behalf of freelance writers. At issue was work published in The Gazette that was being used electronically without permission and/or adequate compensation. For the last several years writer and translator David Homel has been the designated representative of the class which includes several hundred writers who produced thousands of articles.

The ERDC’s settlements are with Canwest Publishing Inc./Publications Canwest Inc.(which is the legal successor through amalgamation of Montreal Gazette Group Inc, Canwest Interactive and Infomart Dialog Limited) and Canwest Global Communications Corporation. Both are in protection-against-creditors proceedings before Ontario courts. This means that the actual amount of the settlements is undetermined because the creditors’ claims against the corporations are still being processed.

The ERDC’s claim against Canwest Publishing has been valued at $8,500,000 for voting and distribution purposes in respect of arrangements being worked out between Canwest Publishing and its creditors. The ERDC’s claim with Canwest Global Communications is valued at $500,000. In both cases the amounts that the ERDC will eventually receive on behalf of members of the class are likely to be very substantially less as the protection against-creditors procedures are wound up. The ERDC will hold the money and/or stock in trust until the class action is completely settled and a formula for distribution of the settlement to class members is approved by the courts.

“We are pleased that freelance writers will eventually receive some compensation for their work used electronically, and that the other side explicitly acknowledges “the importance of protection of electronic rights and fair compensation for the electronic dissemination of content,” said ERDC President Mary Soderstrom. “But we regret strongly that it has taken 13 years to get to this point, and that, because of the protection against creditors proceedings, freelancers will receive amounts much less than the face value of the settlements.”

She added that the ERDC also continues to maintain that contracts which freelancers have been forced to sign with The Gazette and Canwest are unfair.

The settlements themselves and the announcement of the class action can be found on the ERDC’s website http://www.erdc.ca

For more information:

Mary Soderstrom, ERDC president

Source: Chris DiRaddo

(Download PDF file )

Dear Friends

The Electronic Rights Defence Committee (ERDC) is pleased to announce it has reached a tentative settlement with two of the defendants in our long-running class class action arising from unauthorized electronic use of the freelance stories in The Gazette of Montreal. In addition, the Quebec Superior Court has ordered the posting of a Notice to Members of the class together with copies of the settlements. This starts the ball rolling toward a payout to class members. Links to the documents are below:

1.ERDC_Notice_to_members_2010-06-06_CGCC_+_LP_-FINAL_APPROUVE_FRANCAIS.pdf

2.ERDC_Notice_to_members_2010-06-06_CGCC_+_LP__FINAL_APPROUVE_ANGLAIS.pdf

3.ERDC_Transaction_Revised_2010-06-01_FINAL(2).pdf

4.ERDC_Transaction_with_Canwest_Publishing.pdf

The settlements are with Canwest Publishing Inc./Publications Canwest Inc.(which is the legal successor through amalgamation of Montreal Gazette Group Inc, Canwest Interactive and Infomart Dialog Limited) and Canwest Global Communications Corporation. Both are in protection-against-creditors proceedings before Ontario courts. This means that the actual amount of the settlements is undetermined at present because the creditors’ claims against the corporations are still being processed.

However ERDC’s claim against Canwest Publishing has been valued at $8,500,000 for voting and distribution purposes in respect of any plan of compromise or arrangement proposed by CPI to its creditors. The ERDC’s claim with Canwest Global Communications is valued at $500,000.

In both cases these amounts will be reduced very substantially as the protection-against-creditors procedures are wound up. It is possible that we could receive about 10 to 15 cents on the dollar. Certainly it will be months, if not years before we receive anything.

Both these settlements require court approval. We will have more to say about what they mean in the days to come.

The documents we’re sending you will also be posted on our website, http://www.erdc.ca, as well as on that of six writers organizations.

Please feel free to circulate the notice widely.

Cheers

Jack Ruttan, secretary
Mary Soderstrom, president

List of other organizations which will post the notices

http://www.sfpavocats.ca (Attorneys of the group Website)
http://www.writersunion.ca (The Writers’ Union of Canada (TWUC))
http://www.qwf.org (Quebec Writers’ Federation (QWF))
http://www.uneq.qc.ca (Union des écrivains québécois (UNEQ))
http://www.pwac.ca (Professionial Writers’ Association of Canada (PWAC))
http://www.ajiq.qc.ca (Association des journalistes indépendants du
Québec(AJIQ))
http://www.cfunion.ca (Canadian Freelance Union (CFU));