Hot news

Online news aggregation websites that compile and resell news stories without the publisher's permission are committing copyright infringement and are not protected under the fair use doctrine, a New York judge ruled.

Financial news aggregator Theflyonthewall.com Inc. cannot be held liable for "hot news" misappropriation because the New York state law is preempted by the federal Copyright Act, the U.S. Court of Appeals in New York City (2nd Cir.) held Monday in Barclays Capital Inc. v. Theflyonthewall.com, Inc.

Financial news service Briefing.com settled a lawsuit with Dow Jones & Co. last week after the website admitted to violating the federal Copyright Act and “hot news” doctrine by systematically republishing time-sensitive headlines and articles from Dow Jones.

More than a dozen media organizations are urging a federal appeals court to recognize that “hot news” misappropriation claims are an important legal remedy to protect news organizations' content from Internet aggregators that do not conduct original reporting.

A case before a federal appeals court could have important ramifications for news organizations seeking to protect time-sensitive stories from online aggregators that siphon away readers and advertisers by repackaging and distributing news secondhand on their own site.

The U.S. Court of Appeals in New York City (2nd Cir.) is poised hear arguments as soon as this summer in a case that pits three financial firms against defendant Theflyonthewall.com – a subscription Web site that aggregates financial news.

The Associated Press settled its lawsuit against All Headline News over AP stories that were rewritten and posted online without credit, the wire service announced Wednesday.