Linking practices on the net remain safe after the Gatehouse v. NYTimes settlement that was reached yesterday. In a case that has garnered much attention, the parties reached a settlement agreement over a dispute regarding NYTimes owned Boston.com’s practice of aggregating headlines and snippets of information from Plaintiff’s web news stories.
Gatehouse Media is one of the nation’s largest publishers of community newspapers, featuring local news of relevance and interest to smaller communities. The Boston Globe launched a “Wicked Local” website featuring similar news, but used content from Gatehouse by featuring Gatehouse headlines and snippets of news, as well as other area blogs and newspaper websites. Gatehouse didn’t find imitation the highest form of flattery and filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court in Massachusetts, alleging breach of contract, copyright infringement, false advertising, trademark infringement, trademark dilution, unfair competition, and unfair business practices (All documents filed with the court). One of the problems specifically alleged by Gatehouse was that because the Globe was linking directly to lead stories, it was bypassing ads posted on home pages that help fund Gatehouse’s operations, thereby creating some confusion as to the original source.
The case was filed on December 22, 2008, and after some procedural hoopla, a trial was set for January 26, 2009. The parties apparently settled their dispute yesterday, on January 26, 2009.
This case was significant because the practice of linking and aggregation is so prevalent on the net that it would fundamentally alter the way news and information is disseminated to the public. What makes the net so attractive is precisely this interconnectedness between sources of information – an appeal not lost on journalists, bloggers, and internet users. Now that Pandora's box is open, the issue will surely come up again. Stay tuned.
- Posted by Olivera
Gatehouse Media is one of the nation’s largest publishers of community newspapers, featuring local news of relevance and interest to smaller communities. The Boston Globe launched a “Wicked Local” website featuring similar news, but used content from Gatehouse by featuring Gatehouse headlines and snippets of news, as well as other area blogs and newspaper websites. Gatehouse didn’t find imitation the highest form of flattery and filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court in Massachusetts, alleging breach of contract, copyright infringement, false advertising, trademark infringement, trademark dilution, unfair competition, and unfair business practices (All documents filed with the court). One of the problems specifically alleged by Gatehouse was that because the Globe was linking directly to lead stories, it was bypassing ads posted on home pages that help fund Gatehouse’s operations, thereby creating some confusion as to the original source.
The case was filed on December 22, 2008, and after some procedural hoopla, a trial was set for January 26, 2009. The parties apparently settled their dispute yesterday, on January 26, 2009.
This case was significant because the practice of linking and aggregation is so prevalent on the net that it would fundamentally alter the way news and information is disseminated to the public. What makes the net so attractive is precisely this interconnectedness between sources of information – an appeal not lost on journalists, bloggers, and internet users. Now that Pandora's box is open, the issue will surely come up again. Stay tuned.
- Posted by Olivera
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