The 90 year old, court-created 'hot news doctrine' was
controversially resurrected by Associated Press (AP) last year when
it sued regional news operation All Headline News (AHN) over its
reuse of AP's material.
AHN has now settled the case, paid an un-named sum to AP and
admitted that it "improperly used" AP's content.
The doctrine was created by the US Supreme Court in 1918 when AP
argued that it had invested so much in bringing back news from the
first World War that it should be able to stop other news outlets
using its facts before it had a protected period in which it could
earn advantage from them.
It had sued a rival wire service over its use of the
information, and the Court agreed that a quasi-property right
should surround the information while it retained its value.
The doctrine is unusual because it gives the owner of
information rights over a fact, however it is expressed. Copyright
law does not protect facts or raw information.
The doctrine was federal law but a later ruling changed that,
though states were free to retain it on their statute books. New
York did keep the law, and it was in New York that the AP case
against ANH was taken.
The settlement of the case, though, means that the doctrine will
now not be tested. The settlement announcement emphasised that the
case had been allowed to proceed as a 'hot news' challenge, though
that falls short of a full court reaffirmation of the doctrine.
"As a result of the lawsuit, and as part of the settlement, the
defendants agreed that they would not make competitive use of
content or expression from AP stories," said a joint statement from
AP and ANH. "Defendants acknowledge there were many instances in
which AHN improperly used AP’s content without AP’s consent."
"Defendants further acknowledge the tort of 'hot news
misappropriation' has been upheld by other courts and was ruled
applicable in this case by U.S. District Court Judge P. Kevin
Castel," it said.
"AP invests hundreds of millions of dollars to gather and to
distribute essential breaking news worldwide that customers
legitimately access and use by payment of a license fee," said AP
associate general counsel for intellectual property, Laura
Malone.
"Unauthorized use of these proprietary news reports by copying
or rewriting published AP news stories is inimical to the interests
of AP and its legitimate licensees," she said.
Disclaimer: We hope you find OUT-LAW’s content useful. It’s prepared by the lawyers at Pinsent Masons. Please remember, though, that it’s intended as general information only. It’s not legal advice. If that’s what you’re seeking, please
contact us. See also: our
full disclaimer
