Retrospective - Copyright in Hot News

Information can be very time-sensitive, and that very sensitivity can make it all the more valuable in areas of commerce or activity where quickness is king. The value of stocks can change in an instant, the betting odds of a match adjusted slower than the action allows for and the publication of information can yield a great deal of notoriety and sales for a news outlet or individual using that very information. Although news and facts are not protected by copyright in many jurisdictions, they can still have a great deal of value that might be desired to be protected. Could one therefore protect time-sensitive information? This matter was first addressed by the US Supreme Court in the formative years of the 20th century.

The case of International News Service v Associated Press dealt with two companies in the business of collecting and publishing information through a variety of publications. The Associated Press acted as a gatherer and distributor of news and details on current events to many newspapers within its own member network (over 900 at the time). The cost of International News Service's provision of this news was a substantial sum of $3,5 million per year (over $37 million in today's money), which was assumingly recouped by the members through the exclusive publication of the news and current events in their region. The International News Service similarly distributed details on news and current events to its own network of, at the time, 400 daily newspapers, costing $2 million per year. Although the defendant was deemed to have infringed the Associated Press' rights through bribery and induction of their members to divulge the information to them, the questions that remained were summarized by Justice Pitney: "1. Whether there is any property in news; 2. Whether, if there be property in news collected for the purpose of being published, it survives the instant of its publication in the first newspaper to which it is communicated by the news-gatherer; and 3. Whether defendant's admitted course of conduct in appropriating for commercial use matter taken from bulletins or early editions of Associated Press publications constitutes unfair competition in trade".

Tom was surprised just how hot the news was that day

Justice Putney first discussed whether news could be property, and quickly distinguished between the content of a news article and its specific form and expression. Although articles can possess a literary quality, and potentially be protected by copyright, the content within is a different matter entirely. Justice Putney further clarified this point: "...the news element — the information respecting current events contained in the literary production — is not the creation of the writer, but is a report of matters that ordinarily are publici juris; it is the history of the day", and therefore not necessarily protected by copyright. However, he continued that "The peculiar value of news is in the spreading of it while it is fresh", and thus the distribution of that information between the two companies is imperative, irrespective of the question of copyright.

He determined that the value of the information between the two parties (and by extension, others who might provide the same or similar service) created a property right in the news articles that were distributed: "...news matter, however little susceptible of ownership or dominion in the absolute sense, is stock in trade, to be gathered at the cost of enterprise, organization, skill, labor, and money, and to be distributed and sold to those who will pay money for it, as for any other merchandise... the material out of which both parties are seeking to make profits at the same time and in the same field, we hardly can fail to recognize that for this purpose, and as between them, it must be regarded as quasi property, irrespective of the rights of either as against the public".

Although the Court extended protection over news items as quasi-property, this merely covered the news articles as when there was value in it, meaning at the moment of its sale, distribution or utilization for the benefit of those who spent time, effort and money to gather it. Copyright did not extend to news articles per say, but a different transient property right.

Justice Putney ultimately concluded that International News Services had unlawfully acquired the Associated Press' property, and restricted the publication of news by them appropriated from the Associated Press for a number of hours after its publication, unless proper credit was given.

The current state of 'hot news' and its protection is uncertain, with subsequent cases such as Barclays Capital Inc. v Theflyonthewall.com questioning its existence and/or applicability to factual content. In the UK protecting news would be very difficult, bar an argument through confidentiality (following the case of Exchange Telegraph Co Ltd v Gregory & Co); however, the American position seems to remain an oddity, albeit an interesting one, in the world of IP.

Retrospective - What is a 'Work' in Copyright?

Lawyers and the legal profession love their words and their singular interpretations, which can be quite odd from the perspective of the layman, especially when the interpretation seems quite obvious from the very beginning. Even so, we have learned to embrace this tradition, and understand that the nuanced meanings of words can have a huge impact on cases and their outcomes, and have no shame in jostling over the meanings of even the most basic of words. Intellectual property in this regard is no exception, and a word that is very important in terms of copyright is what is a 'work' protectable by copyright? As said, the answer may seem obvious and the discussion of what is a work seem a bit frivolous, but the reason why is incredibly important. What constitutes a 'work' under copyright sets up boundaries for the laws and expands or limits its application to both old and new artistic endeavors, making it one of the most important parts of interpretation when discussing the scope of copyright. Although discussed for for as long as copyright has existed, the modern definition of what a 'work' is came about in the 1960s through the hands of the House of Lords in the United Kingdom.

The case in question was Ladbroke (Football) Ltd v William Hill, which dealt with two competing companies in the sphere of bookmaking. The respondents to the appeal, William Hill, were firmly established in the marketplace, sending out weekly football odds to their customers during the season. The appellants, Ladbroke, have also been well-established players in the world of bookies, and entered the football bookmaking scene in the late 1950s, sending out coupons which looked very much like the ones William Hill sent to their customers. As a result William Hill sued Ladbroke for copyright infringement, with the case culminating in the highest court of the UK in 1964.

Sisyphus, for some reason, thought his work was for naught.

The coupons which the case concerned were very simple in their design, consisting of a list of the games that week along with boxes next to each match, allowing for the person to indicate the games' outcomes and therefore to change the odds of winning, as each bet would have to be successful for the individual to win. Some of the lists provided contained all of the games that week, whereas some only contained a selection of games. William Hill's coupons contained 16 lists, while Ladbroke's coupons contained 15 lists of games. The latter lists were almost identical to William Hill's ones, with only some slight deviations in terms of headers or different odds. What was allegedly copied were the possible wagers to be made and, to a large extent at least, the layout and headers of the lists. The big question that remained was whether such lists would be a work protectable under copyright.

Under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 a 'work' is defined as "...a work of any of those descriptions in which copyright subsists", which include musical, literary and artistic works, among others. That definition alone seems like not much help, but it's an important statement of what can be considered as obvious, which can be expanded upon. Although the wording differs from the Copyright Act 1956 which was at issue in the case, the considerations can be argued to applying equally to the newer 1988 Act.

The discussion in the case pertained mostly to whether such a work could be considered as an original work (more on which can be found here); however whether the sheer compilation of information into tables and lists would be a work is also quite important under this consideration. After all, even if a work is 'original', but does not qualify as a genuine 'work' (in most cases quite hard as the two are more or less intertwined), the piece would not attract copyright protection. In the end this is a determination by assessing the "...skill, judgment or labour" put into the creation of the work; or in other words, did the author of the work do anything more than the bare minimum in the creation of the work in question. Many have mentioned the very scattered approach to this question, as often judges will take into account expense, knowledge and even literary skill employed into the creation of the work; leaving the question without a definitive judicial consideration. This has been seen different in the United States, as under the Feist Publications v Rural Telephone Service decision (more on which can be found here) effort alone won't give a work protectability under copyright. In the end the appeal was dismissed by the House of Lords, and William Hill's coupons and lists were indeed protected by copyright.

As one can see what a 'work' is is quite ambiguous, and the consideration of judgment, skill and labor leaves it even more in the mist, as plain effort might not be the most accurate description or factor in deciding what truly amounts to a work or not. This uncertainty leaves short pieces and low-effort works potentially in the fringes of copyright, and can cause issues to those authors as a result. Clearly this is something which copyright should not cause, and might be a reason why the definition of a 'work' should be revisited by either the judiciary or the legislature in the future.