Last update - 00:00 10/10/2006
Court: Freelance journalists don't have copyright over material
By Arnon Ben-Yair, Haaretz Correspondent
The Tel Aviv Magistrate's Court ruled Tuesday that freelance journalists do not have the right to demand compensation for copyright violations, as they are not the legal owners of the material they produce.
The court on Tuesday rejected a suit filed by Haaretz freelance journalist Ron Koffman against the 'Walla' media group.
Koffman sued 'Walla' for publishing his articles on their Internet news site without his consent. The case focused on the premise that the copyright law gave him ownership over his articles.
According to the ruling, although freelance journalists have the right to prevent their work from being publicized outside of their place of employment, they are not entitled to any compensation in the event that this right is violated.
Koffman sued 'Walla' for a total of NIS one million - NIS 20 thousand for every article of his published without his consent.
The court ruled that although the law does give freelance journalists the right of veto over the publication of their articles outside of their place of employment, this right is a moral right and not an ownership right.
According to the ruling, the law is meant to protect journalists' values by preventing the publication of their material in unsuitable places, such as pornographic magazines, but it doesn't give them ownership over their articles.
The judge ruled that ownership rights over the articles of freelance journalists belong to the journalists' place of employment, just as the product of any employee belongs to their place of employment. The copyright law has no bearing on this.
On these grounds the plaintiff's case was dismissed, and he was ordered to pay court expenses to the amount of NIS 7,500.