Same issues, different treatment: common law and civilian approaches to the copyright treatment of freelance works

Abstract

Publishers exploit freelance authors' works not only in print but also digitally, through their own websites or by selling them to third party databases. Freelancers have launched a series of copyright infringement cases against publishers of newspapers and magazines. This paper will argue that the issue of which party should own and control digital exploitation rights is treated differentially across jurisdictions; North American courts struggle to apply vague and seemingly 'neutral' copyright law provisions, whereas the continental European courts apply express legislation. Continental European courts are more equipped to resolve such issues, and in tandem with necessary legislative reform, North American courts may do well to consider some of the civilian approaches in common law decision-making.