Canada's Robertson Ruling: Any Practical Significance for Copyright Treatment of Freelance Authors?

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Canada's Supreme Court ruled that publishers need permission from freelance authors before reproducing their works in online databases. But in contrast to the approach taken in Europe and the US, publishers are now entitled to republish articles on CD-ROM without asking or compensating the freelance authors. Ultimately, irrespective of the publishing medium, the Court defers to private ordering to clarify ambiguities in new use clauses that will continue to persist as technologies evolve to the detriment of freelancers. Thus this decision will have little, if any, impact in practice.