'Canadian Writers Told to Pass on Settlement’

From the June 5 issue of the Winnepeg Sun comes one more piece of evidence that the $10-to-$18-million UnSettlement is an international pig in a poke:

http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/TechNews/TopPhoto/2005/06/05/pf-1072774.html

Highlights:

· Heather Robertson, the Canadian writer who has spearheaded suits north of the border that are almost as old as Tasini v. New York Times, says, “The U.S. courts have no business telling us what to do. Apart from that there’s no fault, there’s no admission of any wrongdoing on the part of the publishers.”

· The notice (including ads in Canadian newspapers) notes that Canadians can opt out, “but Robertson says the best course is to do nothing and the U.S. jurisdiction will be challenged in an Ontario court Oct. 31.”

· Robertson again: “The amount of the settlement is absurd. Maximum $18 million (US)? My Robertson vs. Thomson class action on behalf of an estimated 10,000 Canadian writers is $100 million.”

· Reporter Scott Edmonds: “Even the new president of the National Writers Union south of the border doesn’t sound overly enthusiastic about the deal – and his group is one of the plaintiffs that agreed to it. ‘I would have handled it very differently but, regardless of that, this is the way it has been resolved,’ says Gerard Colby.”