I'm not aware of all the ins and outs of it, but I do know that a handful of writers (or was it one writer? with a handful behind him?!) sued The Globe and Mail (Canada's national newspaper - one of 'em, anyway) because of the electronic copyright situation there. The Globe was not paying for electronic rights, yet was using them on its website (as I understand it) - and making money every time someone paid to download an article. (Sorry, I don't know what the result was, or even if there has been a result yet.)

This "information age" has made copyright law rather tricky (lawyers on this site can probably attest to that). But as the article you've provided a link for suggests, we were in trouble even with the photocopier. I'm sure if I had a dime for every copy someone Out There has made from my published articles, I'd be a rich woman. It's not that I've had a LOT published nationally, but I have had three articles in the Globe (a long time ago - 1993) and two of them were on fairly volatile subjects that meant the pieces begged to be copied and handed out (in certain circs). Of course I have no idea how much they were copied. Technically, no one may photocopy something without the author's permission (assuming copyright has not expired) - but I'm sure the instances in which I WAS contacted, were just the tip of the iceberg.

It's something that makes me nervous about sending my work to anyone electronically. If it's a commissioned article and I know I'll be paid for it, I don't mind as much - though I still wonder if anyone will shanghai it on its way and then pass it off as his/her own in some neck o' the woods of which I have no inkling....

In Canada, every written thing is copyrighted the instant it is created. That's all very well, but alas, there is no proof. The most obvious thing you can do (and I have done it) to protect your writing, is to send it to yourself by registered mail and not open the envelope when it arrives. This will stand up in a court of law, should anyone plagiarize your work and you discover the crime.

But electronic media - tricky, very tricky. The world-wide web is just that - world-wide. How can you police it all to your own satisfaction and know that no one is using your work? Fortunately, plagiarism of this kind seems pretty rare, but you never know....