By Shannon Lee Mannion
OTTAWA Thousands of freelance writers and photographers across Canada have been bullied into signing an inimical Freelance Agreement sent to us in late-2007 by Canadian media giant, CanWest MediaWorks. I have refused to sign this contract. Several other long-standing freelance columnists have also done so.
We no longer have our jobs with CanWest MediaWorks.
The covering letter sent to Ottawa Citizen freelancers stipulates that unless contributors signed by a certain date, they would not be paid for their articles. Sign or you don’t work, was the upshot.
Freelancers who signed the contract no longer own their work after it has been published by CanWest MediaWorks and therefore have no opportunity to re-sell it. Taken to absurdity, if a freelance writer published a weekly gardening column for several years and then wanted to compile these articles into a book, under the contract, they would not be allowed to. Photographers cannot resell their images.
Not only does the new contract not allow for any additional money for articles or photos reprinted throughout the chain or for use in CanWest's news service, there is no remuneration for electronic rights. This in particular runs counter to a recently proposed Federal bill, C-60. Electronic rights were one of the significant reasons why television entertainment writers went on strike thee months ago in the States.
Freelance journalists and photographers across Canada are in an uproar over this contract.
As chair of the Freelance Policy Committee of the Canadian Association of Journalists, my committee has been looking into systemic problems in our print media. Radio and TV fare better because there is the CRTC to adjudicate; we need to do something about safeguarding print. Because writers in Ottawa and across the country who have refused to abrogate their rights by signing the contract are being dismissed, it is important that readers realize what is happening.
It's ironic that in 2004, I played the role of Catherine "Kit" Coleman, first president of the Canadian Women's Press Club in Rosaleen Dickson's seminal work, 100 Years of Daring: Day One.
We opened in the Salon at the National Art Centre, we performed at the National Press Club, and we played at the Ottawa Citizen as a fund-raiser for their Raise a Reader program.
My role as Kit Coleman included this line: "[ I ] want to bring together women journalists, authors, illustrators and also musicians for mutual benefits and the strength that comes of union."
In my real-life role as freelance organizer, lobbyist and voice of the media-disenfranchised, I continue to call for solidarity and insist upon balance and fair play.
Because I stood up for my copyright and refused to sign the CanWest Freelance Agreement that guts economic and moral rights, I no longer write for CanWest MediaWorks.
To see excerpts from the contract and to read some responses from various groups, please go to this special web page: www.slmannion.com
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