Subject: RE: Contentville and UMI
Date: Sat, 12 Aug 2000 16:04:43 -0400


Hi Folks:

First, apologies for the length of this email. I have checked the UMI web
site and they have their own program to order dissertations on-line. I've
scoured through their news releases, web links, and company profile and see
nothing of Contentville even mentioned. UMI website:
http://www.umi.com/hp/Products/DisExpress.html

If you have questions about the relation between UMI and Contentville, you
can email the president of UMI/Bell & Howell at
JoeReynolds-AT-bellhowell.infolearning.com

A quote of his which is telling:

Reynolds stated. "We will continue to expand our intellectual property for
the academic researchers of the world and will continue to offer the best
value for our customer's research dollar."

I also found a completely uncritical press release which is very recent and
have pasted it below. Although it doesn't say as much, it seems the
Contentville president was faced with legal action if he continued to sell
others' works without paying royalities. He is lauded for "choosing" to
abide by the law.

 http://publishing.about.com/arts/publishing/library/pr/bl_nwu1.htm

PRESS RELEASE (8/9/2000)

Brill's Contentville, Writers Union Reach Agreement On Website Royalties NEW
YORK, NY -- The National Writers Union (NWU), Local 1981 of the United Auto
Workers, and Contentville.com , a new website founded by publisher Steven
Brill, formally announced today an agreement to compensate writers for works
purchased by visitors to the website.

The new agreement, approved today by the NWU National Executive Board, is
the first contract of its kind between a major web-based content provider
and the National Writers Union. It will utilize the innovative NWU's
Publications Rights Clearinghouse (PRC) to assign and pay royalties to
writers whose work is sold on Contentville. NWU and Contentville are
drafting the final contract language, which is expected to be completed
soon.

``We're delighted to have reached this landmark agreement,'' said
Contentville founder and CEO 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.''

``The Internet creates enormous possibilities for the exchange of
information, but those possibilities will not be realized if writers are not
fairly compensated for their work,'' said UAW Vice President Elizabeth Bunn,
who directs the Union's Technical, Office and Professional (TOP) Department.
``This agreement will set the standard for how writers and creative workers
can reach co-operative agreements with publishers to take full advantage of
new technologies.''

``This is an important breakthrough,'' said Jonathan Tasini, president of
the NWU and a lead plaintiff in Tasini vs. New York Times et al., the
precedent-setting lawsuit, which established the principle that writers must
be paid for the electronic use of copyrighted works. ``Steve Brill has acted
responsibly and ethically and we applaud him for laying down a standard that
all publishers can emulate. Through the direct dialogue and negotiation that
led to this agreement, Steve Brill is working with us to kick open a door to
a new set of ground rules to establish fair and stable relationships between
creators, consumers and distributors. We hope and expect that the deal 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.''

In the Tasini vs. New York Times lawsuit, a three-judge panel of the Second
Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruled in September of 1999 that the Times and
other publishers could not sell electronic versions of articles for which
they had purchased only first North American serial rights.

Contentville, an offshoot of Brill's Content, serves as content ``dream
store,'' providing not only hundreds of thousands of books at discount
prices, but also magazine subscriptions usually shipped within 24 hours, as
well as instantly-downloadable magazine archives, legal documents, doctoral
dissertations, speeches, screenplays and other material. All of it is easily
searchable using Contentville's Cross Content Search, and all of it is
supplemented by reviews and commentary from, among others, the owners of 40
of the nation's leading independent book stores who serve as Contentville's
Affiliate Experts.

Under the terms of the agreement, writers who register the copyright for
their work through the Publications Rights Clearinghouse will receive 30
percent of the fees paid by Contentville.com customers. The agreement will
primarily benefit free-lance writers who own the copyright to articles they
have contributed to newspapers and magazines.

Any writer, however, who owns the copyright to his or her work can register
at the Publications Rights Clearinghouse and receive payment for sales
generated by Contentville.

Writers who wish to register their articles through the Publications Rights
Clearinghouse can do so by visiting www.nwu.org or by calling the National
Writers Union at 212-254-0279.

For further information, contact Cindy Rosenthal at Contentville,
212-332-6386 or Jonathan Tasini at 212-254-0279.

If you go to the NWU site (listed above) there is a press release with their
version of the issues, and a link to a NYT article.
Liz DeLoughrey





     --- from list postcolonial-AT-lists.village.virginia.edu ---