National Writers Union 1981 – The “Why a Union?” workshop at the Nation Institute’s Writers’ Congress draws an overflow crowd. The plenary of 3,000 writers endorses the proposal to create a union for writers in all genres to actively press for better pay and treatment and to vigorously oppose Reagan-era threats to free expression. “We need no more heroic individual writers,” said keynote speaker Toni Morrison. She called for “an accessible organization that is truly representative of the diverse interests of all writers.” The purpose of the NWU is to promote and protect the rights, interests, and economic advancement of members; to organize writers to improve professional working conditions through collective bargaining action; and to provide professional services to members. ... Related Articles News Feed Movie Copyright Cases Filmmakers Should Know: Part 2, Movie Fair Use Cases In the previous iteration of this blog (Part 1), we presented several movie copyright cases addressing the issues of copyright… Learn More News Feed Analysing the rules of proof in China’s first drug patent linkage suit Wu Xiaohui of Wanhuida Intellectual Property explains a pioneering case heard by the Intellectual Property Court of the Supreme People’s… Learn More News Feed Training AI With Protected Works: Is Copyright Law Designed to Respond? Many creators feel very strongly that “training” AI models with unlicensed, copyrighted works is unjust—not least because generative AIs built… Learn More