DEFINING EDITORIAL CONTROL WITHOUT LIMITING JOURNALISTS’ COPYRIGHT IN THE MASS MEDIA

Abstract

The editorial office and editors at mass media organizations work to ensure that journalistic works are accurately presented. Editing should carefully take into account authorship rights and factual accuracy. A journalistic work is the result of an institutional process in which the professional contribution of the reporter is combined with the editorial office’s responsibility for factual accuracy, legality, style, and timely publication. The failure to make a principled distinction between these interests often results in treating ordinary editing, alteration of meaning, and secondary commercial use equally under the law. This article examines how copyright should be divided between journalists and media organizations, with a focus on proper attribution, anonymity, integrity, service works, freelance contributions, and digital republication. The research is based on doctrinal, comparative, functional, and case-law analysis of the legislation and judicial practice of Uzbekistan and the United States, with reference to international copyright standards. The study finds that neither complete author control nor complete editorial ownership is an appropriate model. It proposes a three-tiered allocation of rights and an editorial-purpose test that draws a line between permissible technical editing and changes requiring the author’s consent. It also distinguishes between first publication and economically independent reuse in databases and other forms of use, such as paid archives, translations, syndication, and third-party platforms.