ERDC

This is the ERDC’s new web site. It’s under construction, and more will be added and changed as it gets shaken out. Please watch this space for further announcements.

You may have heard by now that Heather Robertson has reached a settlement in her lawsuit in Toronto: [link to story on CBC.ca]

The ERDC (Electronic Rights Defense Committee) congratulates Heather and her team. We’ll comment more completely when the terms are published, later this week or over the weekend.

Jack Ruttan
ERDC Secretary

After more than a decade, the Electronic Rights Defence Committee (ERDC) has received authorization from Quebec Superior Court to proceed with a class action suit against some of the biggest names in Canadian media.

At issue is electronic use without permission or compensation for work by freelance writers in The Montreal Gazette. The defendants are the Montreal Gazette Group, CanWest Global Communications, Hollinger Canadian Publishing Holdings, CanWest Interactive, Southam and Southam Business Communications, Infomart Dialog and Cedrom-SNI.

In February 2008, the Honourable Eva Petras, J.S.C., heard three days of arguments from Mireille Goulet – the ERDC lawyer, and a team of lawyers representing the defendants. The Justice’s decision was rendered March 31, 2009. It authorizes the ERDC to institute class action proceedings with writer and translator David Homel as its official designated member. The class action group includes all freelance writers whose articles, originally published in The Gazette, have been allegedly illegally reproduced on the Infomart data base since 1984.

The next steps will lead toward a trial on the merits of the case, a process which may take several years to reach a conclusion.

The ERDC case is one of several in North America seeking compensation for unauthorized electronic use of freelance writers’ work. In October 2007, the Canadian Supreme Court ruled five to four in the Heather Robertson vs. Thomson case that freelancers do indeed hold copyright on their work reproduced in electronic data bases. The US$ 18-million class action settlement in the United States which followed from the Tasini vs. New York Times case is currently before the US Supreme Court, which has agreed to decide whether a lower court has jurisdiction to approve settlement agreements. The Association des journalistes indépendants du Québec (AJIQ) is also currently in the process of undertaking a class action against several Quebec media providers.

Link to judgment (in English) http://www.jugements.qc.ca/ (Search for
Superior Court decisions in March 2009 (cour superieure, keyword: ERDC)

It was a three-in-one deal Wednesday March 25, 2009, as the Electronic Rights Defence Committee (ERDC) met for its annual general meeting, and the ERDC executive held two short meetings the same night. The first was to approve minutes of a previous Executive meeting and then attention turned to the annual general meeting agenda.

The AGM consisted mostly of updates on our case—our lawyer Mireille Goulet reported that we may get a decision on our class authorization by the end of April—and other cases similar to ours. The parties involved in Heather Robertson’s case against the Thomson chain were currently in discussions, while her case against ProQuest, CEDROM, Torstar, CanWest and Rogers has been certified by mutual consent. The Association des journalistes independents du Québec (AJIQ) is scheduled to have a hearing on its own class action authorization next week: its adversaries are French language newspapers, with the exception of the Le Devoir with which it settled several years ago.

Elections were held for the ERDC executive committee, with all members being re-elected: Mary Soderstrom, president; Jack Ruttan, secretary; Ron Diamond, treasurer; and executive members at large Tracey Arial, Ann Charney, Anne Diamond, Julie Gedeon, Peter McFarlane, Stuart Robertson, and Merrily Weisbord. The new executive approved a resolution agreeing to a contract with Me Goulet as required by the Fonds d’aide aux recours collectif (FARC), the provincial body which has provided on-going financial support since the beginning of our class action. The terms are the same as in previous contracts.

We’ll keep you updated when there are any new developments.

Jack Ruttan, ERDC Secretary

Mary Soderstrom, ERDC Chair

The Electronic Rights Defence Committee will hold its annual general meeting
at:

7:30 p.m.
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Dino Den Room
Westmount YMCA
4585 Sherbrooke West, Westmount

(Parking in the Westmount Library lot across the street. Access by 24, 138 and 104 buses.)

Come at 7 p.m. and we’ll share some refreshments. There will be a very short executive meeting before the AGM, in order to approve the minutes of our last meeting: all are welcome for this portion.

Hello, Friends of the ERDC

Nearly nine months have passed since the hearing on the Electronic Rights Defence Committee’s class action authorization before Judge Eva Petras, but so far we have had no word on a decision. Our lawyer Mireille Goulet says that the rule of thumb concerning the time it takes for judges to render decisions is about six months, not counting the summer months, and to push for a decision at this point could prove counter-productive.

However, Mireille has just written to Judge Petras (and the lawyers for the other side), drawing attention to a very interesting agreement reached last month by Google, the Authors’ Guild and the Association of American Publishers over electronic rights.

That settlement includes the establishment of a new licensing system and is said to amount to $125 million US. According to Mirielle, “this
development presents many parallels and similarities to the ERDC case.” The settlement is now pending approval from the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

For more information about the Google case, check out these links:
http://www.publishersweekly.com/article/CA6609089.html?q=authors%27+guild

http://www.google.com/intl/en/press/pressrel/20081027_booksearchagreement.html

When we get more news about our own case, we will let you know speedily.

Jack Ruttan, ERDC Secretary

Mary Soderstrom, ERDC President

Hello all,

And now we have very good news. Our lawyer Mireille Goulet has received a cheque for more than $10,000 from the Fonds d’aide aux recours collectifs. The money comes in response to our request for support for our class action authorization, particularly for Mireille’s hours and hours of work that went into the hearing in February.

Jack Ruttan, ERDC Secretary

Mary Soderstrom, ERDC President

Dear Electronic Rights Defense Committee (ERDC) members and supporters:

Our lawyer Mireille Goulet has “Good news! Great news!”

You might remember from last February that our hearing on continued financial aid from the Fonds d’aide aux recours collectifs, (FARC, the body funding class actions in Quebec) was cancelled at the last minute. We have been without news on this front –or new funds– since then. But last Monday, Mireille learned that FARC has a new President, and will begin holding hearings again, most likely at the end of August or September 2008 (although there is a slight possibility for the end of July).

Mireille says she was told by FARC staff that the ERDC is “amongst the first in line, so we will be heard amongst the first.” This means we may still have to undertake some fundraising, but Mireille suggests we wait until fall because summer is not good for fundraising. It should be noted, though, that the Writers’ Union of Canada approved $1,500 for the ERDC and the cheque should be arriving soon.

As for news on our hearing on class action authorization, there is none so far, but that is to be expected. Mireille says: “The judge has taken the case under advisement and has a period of about 6 months to render the decision.” She says the decision will be faxed to her, “probably around October.”

“Once we get the decision, there are 2 possibilities. Either we win and then we prepare and start a ‘new ‘ round of legal proceedings. If we win, the Defendants publishers have no right to appeal the decision, ” Mireille says. “If we lose, either partially or completely, we will have to consider an appeal of the decision.”

So, things are ‘to be continued.’ In the meantime, Mirielle closes by saying: “Last but not least, I do wish all of you a great summer and great Holidays. Enjoy!”

Same thing from Jack and Mary.

Jack Ruttan, ERDC Secretary

Mary Soderstrom, ERDC President

The Electronic Rights Defence Committee (ERDC) held its 2008 Annual General Meeting Wednesday, March 26 at the Atwater Library Reading Room. Present were most of our executive, some new faces, as well as some who have been active in the past, but who have been busy recently. Our positive mood was fueled by the recent strong performance of Me. Mirielle Goulet at the hearings before the Superior Court of Montreal on our request for class action authorization, February 25, 26 and 27 of this year.

Me. Goulet’s legal report was the centerpiece of the meeting. She summarized her presentation at the hearings as well as that of the defendants. Those who had attended the hearings commented on the David and Goliath nature of the combat: where Me. Goulet acted by herself, the others had five attorneys present in court at all times. And, as Mireille noted, “we have our own David,” – class action representative David Homel. She would expect that the judge who heard the proceedings, the Honourable Justice Eva Petras, will render her decision within 6 months, which means it could be early fall before we have news.

Next order of business, President Mary Soderstrom’s report from the Chair. Basically she spoke about the need to provide some interim compensation for Me. Goulet, who has been working in practical terms without fee since 2003. We are exploring possible avenues, and will have more on this issue in future messages.

Next on the agenda: election of officers. President Mary Soderstrom, Secretary Jack Ruttan, and Treasurer Ron Diamond are sticking around, as are Executive Members at Large Merrily Weisbord, Ann Charney, plus Peter McFarlane and Stuart Robertson, who were not present, but had previously given notice of their assent. As well, Tracey Arial and Julia Gedeon have agreed to join the executive as Members at Large, while Anne Diamond has offered to work setting up a Facebook page. The meeting also passed motions of thanks to David Homel and Mary Soderstrom for their work.

So plenty has happened. We’re going to rely more on teleconferencing in the future, because meeting face to face is difficult with busy schedules. If the case is authorized, there’s a lot of work ahead, but the committee feels energized and ready to take on the challenge.

Jack Ruttan, ERDC Secretary
and
Mary Soderstrom, ERDC President

Me. Mirielle Goulet made her point on the final day of the Electronic Rights Defence Committee’s class action authorization hearing.

The opposition, drawn from three different high-profile law firms, finished their rebuttal to her presentation. She gave a rebuttal to them, and then they had a chance to answer her rebuttal.

Much appreciation is due to the freelance writers who took time out of their schedules to show up at the hearing and support Me. Goulet’s efforts. Especially David Homel, who was there much of the time. Unlike the lawyers on the other side, none of us were being paid to be there.

Now the case goes under advisement, and we can do nothing but wait for Judge Eva Petras’ decision as to whether the class action goes ahead. We’ll let you know at the earliest possible opportunity. As Judge Petras said, summing up, “it’s not quite so easy.”