The fair contract project

The fair contract project

Time:
Saturday, October 10th, 4:45 pm to 6:00 pm
Location:
Hyatt Regency Cambridge, Thomas Paine room
Speaker(s):
Ed Klaris
  Principal at KlarisIP; professor of media law at Columbia
Robin Lloyd
  News editor, Scientific American
Moderator(s):
Amy Maxmen
  Freelance journalist
Organizer(s):
Katharine Gammon
  Freelance science writer
Amy Maxmen
  Freelance journalist

Many publishers’ contracts exploit their content-providers. They request unreasonable agreements, like eternal copyright and total exemption from blame. Together at this session a lawyer, editors, and writers will discuss the types of common clauses that can impair writers' livelihoods. The group will discuss several alternatives to each type of clause that can be used when reviewing contracts and begin to develop resources that writers can refer to in contract negotiations.

#ProjectContract

Update:
Opening remarks from the session October 10, 2015
Made by Tinsley Davis, NASW Executive Director
The session that you are about to participate in is different than what was originally on tap and does not speak to the initial goal of a very hard working volunteer organizer Amy Maxmen. I apologize to all of you for the last minute change, and I apologize deeply to Amy for all her time and efforts that are not realized here. For some specific reasons that only came to light in the very recent past, we’ve had to recast the session to avoid violating anti-trust laws. This was one of those Pandora’s box shockers to all of us, one of those stupid-but-true situations, and Amy has been so patient as we figured out a way to reframe the session to be useful to you all.

For NASW, developing a single gold standard clause that writers agree to use in contract negotiations potentially violates anti-trust laws. Anti-trust is about more than price fixing. It is about formal or informal agreements among competitors to influence negotiations and thus the marketplace. Anti-trust isn’t just for corporations. The Sherman Act treats freelancers as competitors (interestingly, a bill in Congress in 2002 that would have exempted freelancers from the Sherman Act, did not pass)

Thanks to Amy and Ed Klaris an intellectual property lawyer at Klaris IP who have worked feverishly this week, we do have an excellent session that addresses a wide range of contract issues with one of the experts in the field of intellectual property, an element critical to writers. Ed will give a presentation, and then there will be plenty of time for those burning contract questions.

Addendum: There are many hard-hitting and helpful things that NASW can do, and has with the amazing work of the Freelance committee, to address the very real issues around contracts. We will take information from this session and use it to help build out a contract background resource for the Fine Print.

Meeting schedule

Friday, Oct. 9

11:00 am to 5:00 pm

NASW Board meeting
Hyatt Regency Cambridge, Aquarium room (closed meeting)

12:00 pm to 5:00 pm

Check-in
Main lobby, Hyatt Regency Cambridge

1:00 pm to 5:00 pm

$ How to make awesome science video: A hands-on workshop
Hyatt Regency Cambridge, Thomas Paine room
$ Nonfiction book proposals: A hands-on workshop
Hyatt Regency Cambridge, Charles View Ballroom

6:00 pm to 9:00 pm

Check-in
MIT Walker Memorial, 142 Memorial Drive (Buses depart from Hyatt)
F Knight Science Journalism welcome reception
MIT Walker Memorial, 142 Memorial Drive (Buses depart from Hyatt)

9:00 pm to 10:30 pm

W Diversity Mixer
Hyatt Cambridge Regency, Paul Revere Room
Saturday, Oct. 10

7:30 am to 8:00 am

W Meet and greet for newcomers/students
Hyatt Regency Cambridge, Crispus Attucks room

7:30 am to 8:45 am

W Continental Breakfast
Hyatt Regency Cambridge, President's Ballroom

7:30 am to 5:30 pm

Check-in
Main lobby, Hyatt Regency Cambridge

8:00 am to 8:45 am

NASW membership meeting
Hyatt Regency Cambridge, President's Ballroom

9:00 am to 10:15 am

W Ethics in today's science writing landscape: A community conversation
Hyatt Regency Cambridge, President's Ballroom

9:00 am to 5:00 pm

10:15 am to 10:45 am

W Break
Hyatt Regency Cambridge, President's Ballroom Prefunction

10:45 am to 12:00 pm

W DIY publishing — Does it yield?
Hyatt Regency Cambridge, Charles View Ballroom (top floor of hotel)
W What every editor needs to know
Hyatt Regency Cambridge, William Dawes room

12:00 pm to 1:30 pm

W Lunch
Hyatt Regency Cambridge, President's Ballroom

1:30 pm to 2:45 pm

W Embracing the B word: Branding and social media
Hyatt Regency Cambridge, Charles View Ballroom (top floor of hotel)
W Funds for all: How to win an NASW Idea Grant
Hyatt Regency Cambridge, William Dawes room
W Other stories: Exploring alternative narratives
Hyatt Regency Cambridge, Paul Revere room
W Using art to communicate science
Hyatt Cambridge Regency, Thomas Paine room

2:45 pm to 3:15 pm

W Break
Hyatt Regency Cambridge, President's Ballroom Prefunction

3:15 pm to 4:30 pm

W Data journalism for every scale and skill level
Hyatt Regency Cambridge, President's Ballroom AB
W Four writers sat in a bar:  Humor and voice in science writing
Hyatt Regency Cambridge, Paul Revere room
W PIOs: How to pitch a story (without being annoying)
Hyatt Regency Cambridge, President's Ballroom D
W Power Pitch 2015
Hyatt Regency Cambridge, President's Ballroom C

4:30 pm to 4:45 pm

W Break
Hyatt Regency Cambridge, President's Ballroom Prefunction

4:45 pm to 6:00 pm

W Fact-checking: How to get everything perfectly right always
Hyatt Regency Cambridge, President's Ballroom D
W Sex, death, and privacy: Reporting in the first person
Hyatt Regency Cambridge, William Dawes room
W Sexism, science-writing and solutions: Charting the future
Hyatt Regency Cambridge, Paul Revere room
W The fair contract project
Hyatt Regency Cambridge, Thomas Paine room

6:30 pm to 9:00 pm

F Awards reception
Hyatt Regency Cambridge, President's Ballroom
Sunday, Oct. 11

7:00 am to 8:15 am

F Continental breakfast
MIT Kresge Lobby (Buses depart from Hyatt)

7:30 am to 11:00 am

Check-in
MIT Kresge Lobby

8:15 am to 9:30 am

9:00 am to 5:00 pm

9:30 am to 10:30 am

F The tiny cell with a big gene "app store"
La Sala de Puerto Rico, MIT Student Center

10:30 am to 11:00 am

F Break
MIT Kresge Lobby

11:00 am to 12:00 pm

F Next in space: Spray-on microthrusters for miniature satellites
La Sala de Puerto Rico, MIT Student Center

12:00 pm to 2:00 pm

F Lunch With a Luminary I
Assigned Rooms at MIT Student Center and the Broad Institute; volunteer guides will direct. Pick up lunch first at Kresge Lobby
F MIT Plasma Science and Fusion Center tour
MIT Building NW17, Room 218, 175 Albany St., Cambridge, MA (walking tour, 5 minute walk, departs from Kresge Lobby, pick up lunch first at Kresge)

2:00 pm to 3:00 pm

3:00 pm to 3:30 pm

F Break
MIT Kresge Lobby

3:30 pm to 4:30 pm

F Can computer science help physicists resolve the firewall paradox?
La Sala de Puerto Rico, MIT Student Center

4:30 pm to 5:30 pm

7:00 pm to 10:00 pm

F ScienceWriters party
The Boston Globe, 135 Morrissey Blvd., Boston (Buses depart from Hyatt at 6:40, 6:50, 7:00, 7:20, and 7:40 pm; one bus departs from Fairfield Inn at 6:40 pm)
Monday, Oct. 12

7:15 am to 8:30 am

F Continental breakfast
MIT Kresge Lobby (Buses depart from Hyatt)

8:30 am to 9:30 am

F Applying science to poverty
La Sala de Puerto Rico, MIT Student Center

9:30 am to 10:30 am

9:30 am to 12:00 pm

F Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences tour
29 Oxford St., Cambridge, MA; board bus at Kresge Lobby at 9:30 am for the 10-minute ride to the Harvard engineering campus.

10:30 am to 11:00 am

F Break
MIT Kresge Lobby

10:30 am to 2:00 pm

F Boston University Photonics Center tour
8 St. Mary's St., Boston, MA (board bus at Kresge Lobby at 10:30 am; 10-minute ride to Boston University)

11:00 am to 12:00 pm

F Air pollution and hurricanes: A connection?
La Sala de Puerto Rico, MIT Student Center

12:00 pm to 2:00 pm

F Lunch With a Luminary II
Assigned Rooms at MIT Student Center, Kresge, and MIT Building 4; volunteer guides will direct. Pick up lunch first at Kresge Lobby
F The ingredients for innovation in Kendall Square
La Sala de Puerto Rico, MIT Student Center. Organized by KSJ; participants register as part of Lunch With a Luminary; pick up lunch at Kresge Lobby.

2:00 pm to 3:00 pm

2:00 pm to 4:30 pm

F Boston University National Emerging Infectious Diseases Laboratories tour
Board bus at Kresge Lobby at 2:00 pm for the 15-minute ride to BU's medical campus.

3:00 pm to 3:30 pm

F Break
MIT Kresge Lobby

3:00 pm to 5:00 pm

F LabCentral tour
700 Main St., Cambridge (walking tour, 10-minute walk, departs from Kresge Lobby)

3:30 pm to 5:30 pm

5:30 pm to 7:30 pm

F Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT tour
320 Charles Street, Cambridge (bus departs from Kresge Lobby)

5:30 pm to 8:00 pm

8:00 pm to 10:00 pm

$ Story Collider
Oberon Theater, 2 Arrow Street, Harvard Square, Cambridge. Attendees are responsible for their own travel to Harvard Square. Admission at the door by will-call based on purchase at registration.
Tuesday, Oct. 13

7:15 am to 5:00 pm

9:00 am to 11:30 am

F Biogen tour
225 Binney St., Cambridge (Bus departs from Hyatt Regency Cambridge)
F Dana-Farber Cancer Institute tour
450 Brookline Ave., Boston (Bus departs from Hyatt Regency Cambridge)
F Harvard Museums of Science & Culture tour
26 Oxford St., Cambridge, MA (Bus departs from Hyatt Regency Cambridge)
F Johnson & Johnson Innovation tour
255 Main St., Cambridge, MA (Bus departs from Hyatt Regency Cambridge)

9:30 am to 12:30 pm

F Draper Laboratory tour
555 Technology Square, Cambridge, MA (Bus departs from Hyatt Regency Cambridge)

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