Contentville and NWU Launch Online Licensing System

Posted on March 21, 2001

The National Writers Union (NWU) and Contentville, an online content store founded by publisher Steven Brill, formally launched an online licensing system for authors. The agreement utilizes NWU's Publications Rights Clearinghouse (PRC) to assign and pay royalties to writers whose work is sold on Contentville.

The licensing system is a product of the agreement between the NWU and Contentville. It allows writers to register with the union's Publication Rights Clearinghouse to protect their rights and insure payment for their work. As part of the process, writers will have access to a database of one million articles from which to search to identify their articles. Under the terms of the agreement, writers who register the copyright for their work through the Publications Rights Clearinghouse will receive 30% of the fees paid by Contentville customers.

``This is just the beginning of the building of a system we believe will be the ASCAP for writers within the coming years,'' said Jonathan Tasini, President of the NWU and a lead plaintiff in Tasini vs. New York Times et al. Tasini also said, "We hope and expect that the system will be a model for other publishers to address the significant liabilities they have incurred as the result of the unauthorized sale of copyrighted material.''

``We're delighted to have established this groundbreaking link with the Publication Rights Clearinghouse on Contentville,'' said Steven Brill. ``It's not only what we should be doing under the law, but it's also the right thing to do. As a former free lancer I know that I'd be angry if others were selling my work and not giving me the chance to participate in that sale or perhaps even decide that it should not be sold. Thanks to Jonathan Tasini's leadership and the NWU, we can now do both -- and, in the process, offer our customers an amazing variety of content that has never before been offered. By setting up the PRC, Jonathan and the NWU have established a framework and a system that is both fair and practical, and we're pleased to be involved with them in leading this effort. We have already made the archives of some 2,000 publications searchable and available for sale; this agreement should open the way for us to make many more available.''