Freelancer Rights?

According to Canada’s National Post, the Ontario Superior Court of Justice will consider a proposed settlement in a class action lawsuit involving breach of copyright claims by freelance writers who objected to the defendants publishing works written for print media in electronic databases without paying the writers for the electronic rights.

This is similar to a US case in 1993. In that case, cited below, the freelancers lost:

BETH J. HARPAZ, Associated Press Writer
AP Online
09-28-1999
Court Rules on Freelance Writers

NEW YORK (AP) -- A new court ruling is raising questions about compensation for freelance writers whose work appeared in electronic databases without their permission.

Copyright law ``does not permit the publishers to license individually copyrighted works for inclusion in the electronic databases,'' according to the unanimous ruling issued Friday by a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals' Second Circuit in Manhattan.

The lawsuit was filed in 1993 by six writers and the National Writers' Union, which represents 5,000 freelance writers. The suit was filed against The New York Times Co., ...