1L Law Source

Heading: International News Service v. Associated Press, 248 U.S. 215, 39 S.Ct 68 (1918) p1 Glancy Handout

Facts: - AP claimed ownership of news events reported during WWII.

Since INS reporters were not permitted to send news reports from the battlefields, INS took information about battlefield events from the AP reports.
AP thought of this as pirating of information.
AP sought general protection of its claimed property rights to the news events it reported.

Procedure: AP was the complainant in the District Court. International News appealed to the Supreme Court.

Issue: Does the use of news by INS acquired through articles published in newspapers by the Associated Press, without AP’s permission, constitute theft of property?

Rule: News is not within the operation of the copyright act.

Holding: The value of news is in the spreading of it while it is fresh, and once it is published it must be regarded as common property. Once the commercial value of news has passed it is in the public domain. An injunction was passed however against taking the words or substance of complainant’s news until is commercial value as news had passed.

Rationale: The news element of an article is not the creation of a writer but the history of a day and therefore must be thought of as common property once the newspaper chooses to share it with the public through publishing it in the newspaper. Stealing news before the rightful owner has the opportunity to publish it is unfair competition in business. Unfair competition because INS is profiting from stealing AP’s articles.

Policy/Notes:

Holmes dissent: there is no property in the combination or in the thoughts or facts that the words express. By taking news, INS is enhancing their reputation. If news is to be taken from the AP credit ought to be given. If the news is to be taken several hours should be waited until the news is not quite as fresh.

Brandeis dissent: As long as INS acquired the news from AP from public places such as newspapers of bulletin boards then it is ok for INS to use it. If property is kept private then the right of exclusion is absolute. News is in the public interest.