Wired News has an article on the Supreme’ Courts ruling on freelancer rights that backs up what I pointed out earlier — this ruling not only won’t help but actually hurts freelancers since it gives an incentive to media companies to force freelancers to sign away all rights.
Kendra Mayfield writes,
Since the mid-1990s, most publishers have included all distribution mediums, including the Internet, in their contracts.
While the Supreme Court’s decision applies mainly to contracts that are several years or even decades old, authors are already feeling its impact.
Many writers who refuse to sign away their rights have been denied work. Those who do sign can no longer resell their own works to other markets — a practice that has long been a major source of income for many freelancers, [Miriam] Raftery said.