UK: NUJ calls magazine publisher Bauer's new contract "harshest yet"

Posted by Alisa Zykova on July 18, 2008 at 9:45 AM

Freelance journalists and the UK's National Union of Journalists (NUJ) criticized magazine publisher Bauer's new contract, PressGazette.co.uk reported. The contract, which deals mainly with copyright issues, was called one of the "harshest" to-date by NUJ.

The document obliges freelancers to sign away their copyright and may leave them fully responsible for the work in a legal context.

"To grab the freelancer's copyright for a one-off fee is bad enough, but to expect the freelance to then indemnify the publisher simply adds potentially ruinous injury to injury," said John Toner, NUJ's freelance organizer.

The document also requires that the freelancers ask interviewees to sign away the copyright for any photographs they provide.

The NUJ approached Bauer, and the publisher is trying "to clarify the concerns that have been raised". The firm also mentioned that the rights issue that the contract addresses is not uncommon and may be found in the "Terms & Conditions" of the majority of publishers.

Source: PressGazette.co.uk