Yau Law firm represents clients by protecting their intellectual property (copyrights, trademarks, and patents)  from infringement. Oftentimes, people think of intellectual property as registering a copyright for a photograph or an illustration; others think of trademarking a slogan or a business name while some think of patenting an invention. But intellectual property is more than just registering a creation.

What in the world is Content Aggregation? That’s not a term that commonly comes up in legal discussions, but it was certainly a topic for one district court in New York.

A recent case between the Associated Press and Meltwater U.S. Holdings Inc. and Meltwater News Service sets an example of modern day content aggregation: Meltwater claimed that they are operating a news search engine, and when their subscribing users search for topics on Meltwater, Meltwater delivers news using the AP’s news reports. But Meltwater does not pay for the AP’s subscription fees. Rather, Meltwater is making a profit from its own subscribers. AP claimed that Meltwater’s “business practice is ‘parasitic’ because Meltwater does not pay for original reporting, and as a result, allegedly provides wire content at a lower cost.” Thus, AP sued Meltwater, and on March 20, 2013, the New York  Southern District Court ruled in favor of the AP.

Content Aggregation occurs when individuals or companies compile published web content (usually news and applications) onto another medium for resale.

To find out more about intellectual property and how protecting it can boost your business, contact us today!

Filed under: Civil Litigation, Copyrights by Yau Jo-Anne Thursday, April 4th, 2013