Press Releases

10/09/2007


AP sues VeriSign, claiming aggregation service improperly redistributes headlines

By ANICK JESDANUN
AP Internet Writer

NEW YORK (AP) -- The Associated Press on Tuesday sued a company that aggregates and redistributes news online, claiming it is making improper use of AP's copyright-protected headlines, stories and photos.

The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in New York, seeks unspecified damages from Moreover Technologies Inc. and its parent company, VeriSign Inc. It also seeks an end to the practices.

AP claims Moreover improperly displays AP's headlines and portions of stories as part of its free, ad-supported services. Moreover also is reproducing full articles and photos through subscription services, the lawsuit alleges.

The lawsuit points out that Moreover's own promotional materials claim to "harvest" news from the AP and thousands of other sources in "as fast as two minutes."

Tom Curley, AP's president and chief executive, said in a statement that the news organization spends hundreds of millions of dollars annually to provide "original coverage of vital breaking news that cannot be obtained anywhere else."

"When someone uses our content without our permission, they are free riding on our newsgathering and our reporting of news from around the world," he said.

VeriSign said it does not comment on pending lawsuits.

VeriSign, which bought Moreover in 2005, also provides Internet security and traffic-management services, running some of the key directories computers need to find Web sites and route e-mail. The AP is a 161-year-old cooperative owned by news organizations.

According to the lawsuit, the AP discovered the extent of Moreover's practices while negotiating with it to provide content management services to the AP's members. AP lawyers sent legal notices to Moreover and VeriSign seeking an end to the activities.

Yet the practice has continued, prompting Tuesday's lawsuit, said Srinandan Kasi, AP's vice president and general counsel.

Copyright law does permit limited reproduction under "fair use" provisions, but Kasi said Moreover's activities do not qualify because, among other things, they merely copy AP's headlines and offer no transformative value. Courts do give defendants leeway when copyright material is transformed into a new work or expression, such as parody.

The AP also makes several non-copyright claims, including trademark infringement, saying Moreover does not have permission to refer to AP as a news source, as Moreover does on its Web site.

In August, market research firm Knowledge Networks Inc. agreed to pay $300,000 to settle claims that it improperly distributed in company press packets copyright articles from the AP, United Press International and trade publisher Reed Elsevier PLC.

Last year, without filing a lawsuit, the AP worked out contract terms with Google Inc. over use of AP material by its news aggregation service. Financial terms haven't been disclosed. Google previously claimed the usage was permissible under fair use.

Copyright 2007 The Associated Press.