BIG MEDIA VS. FREELANCERS: THE JUSTICES AT THE DIGITAL DIVIDE The U.S. Supreme Court next week will hear arguments in a seven-year-long dispute over the intellectual property rights of pieces written by freelance writers. At issue are previously published works stored in online databases and on CD-ROMs compiled by University Microfilms International. Current law states that freelancers sell their work to publishers for the printing and revision of a specified newspaper or magazine edition. The conglomeration of freelance authors assembled against publishing companies Time, the New York Times, and Newsday allege that the electronic storage of their work is no longer a "revision" but represents theft of their property. The argument has brought together academics and respected authors on both sides. Those aligned with the publishers fear that freelanced work would be eliminated from the digital record if companies were forced to pay fees to put the work online. The writers say that a clearinghouse, such as the one set up by the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers, would solve the problem. (New York Times, 19 March 2001)