[dropcap size=big]T[/dropcap]he Los Angeles Times was plucked from the abyss and financial ruin less than a year ago. After the newspaper's sale to L.A. doctor Patrick Soon-Shiong, the freshly formed Los Angeles Times Guild broke the historical record on labor-organizing in local news media and organized the West Coast's biggest newsroom.
Now, ongoing talks between newsroom employees and management over a long-term contract have hit a roadblock over the intellectual property of work done by reporters during their time as LAT staff. The L.A. Times Guild published an open letter on Feb. 13 accusing management of overreach on intellectual property, complaining that the new ownership has proposed a “draconian policy on books and other creative projects that, as a condition of employment, would go far beyond the work-for-hire standards of U.S. copyright law.”
In short, the company says it is asserting what it describes as standard rights to so-called "derivative" works that might arise from L.A. Times material. The company says it usually offers journalists bonuses in relation to huge stories that turn into books, films, or television shows.
These in the past have include the Bravo TV show "Dirty John," first published as a series of stories reporter Christopher Goffard. The union argues the paper would fully own such projects under the current terms offered by management, with or without a bonus for the author or authors.
“If we agreed to the company’s proposal, we would have the worst policy on book deals in our industry and set a bad precedent for our peers,” the Guild said in its FAQ on Intellectual Property.