Court Upholds AP "Quasi-Property" Rights On Hot News 169
I Don't Believe in Imaginary Property writes "A federal court ruled that the AP can sue competitors for 'quasi-property' rights on hot news, as well as for copyright infringement and several other claims. The so-called 'hot news' doctrine was created by a judge 90 years ago in another case, where the AP sued a competitor for copying wartime reporting and bribing its employees to send them a copy of unreleased news. The courts' solution was to make hot news a form of 'quasi-property' distinct from copyright, in part because facts cannot be copyrighted. But now the AP is making use of the precedent again, going after AHN which competes with the AP, alleging that they're somehow copying the AP's news. The AP has been rather busy with lawsuits lately, so even though the AP has a story about their own lawsuit, we won't link to it."
Re:What the hell is "AP"? (Score:2, Funny)
Maybe they're like the NN equivalent of an AC on SD or something.
This just in... (Score:4, Funny)
... I'm about to be sued by Associated Press for this hot news item. More at 11
Message (Score:3, Funny)
Re:What the hell is "AP"? (Score:4, Funny)
That being said, you're absolutely right. The full, unabbreviated name should have been in there at least once.
Indeed. I'd quote the relevant passage from the AP Stylebook regarding the use of abbreviations, but they seem to have locked it up behind a paid-content wall.
Take THAT, thriving black market for standard news industry reference materials!
Re:What the hell is "AP"? (Score:5, Funny)
Associated Press. (%Insert link to Wikipedia article.%) (%Insert random fact or two about AP.%) (%Insert funny comment to try and get modded up.%)
Ah, thank god for my Slashdot comment template engine.
Re:Message (Score:5, Funny)
Can we instead quasi-fight for our quasi-right to quasi-party?
Re:Message (Score:1, Funny)
This is making me feel a bit quasi...
Re:I can see it now... (Score:4, Funny)
Re:!plagiarism (Score:5, Funny)
Maybe they sent themselves a DMCA takedown notice.
Re:I call it plagiarism (Score:2, Funny)
Now that you've already posted it in public, it's not "hot" news anymore.
Re:What the hell is "AP"? (Score:1, Funny)
... but pendants have to have something to complain about.
"That jeweler really should have made me an eighth of an inch longer"