New York Times Co. v. Tasini (2001): the collective-work privilege does not cover databases that carry freelancers' articles on their own (New York Times Co. v. Tasini, 533 U.S. 483 (2001))
When newspapers and magazines licensed freelancers' articles into electronic databases, where each article appeared on its own, the Supreme Court held that the publishers' collective-work privilege did not cover it and that the publishers had infringed the freelancers' copyrights. The case concerned databases, not AI, but it is the leading ruling on what a publisher may license onward from contributors' work without their grant.
Dated 31 Oct 2026Source checked 31 Oct 2026Basis: primary text
Selling a company's data? This is one of the rules a sale has to meet, and the guide beside the button reads it in plain words.
- No data upload
- About two minutes
- No email needed
In the source's own words
“In agreement with the Second Circuit, we hold that §201(c) does not authorize the copying at issue here. ... Both the print publishers and the electronic publishers, we rule, have infringed the copyrights of the freelance authors.”
Figures it counts in
It is shown on its own, not counted into a figure.
Cited in this guide