AP and Meltwater shake hands in copyright dispute
News agency the Associated Press (AP) and media monitoring company Meltwater have ended all litigation in their US copyright dispute and agreed to jointly sell some new products.
The AP sued Meltwater last year for copyright infringement, arguing that its use of excerpts from a substantial number of AP articles – which it sent to clients in daily alerts – was “parasitic”.
In response, Meltwater argued that its work constituted fair use, equating its business model with a search engine, which transforms the work it takes from Internet news sites and uses that content for a new purpose.
In March this year, the US District Court for the Southern District Court ruled against Meltwater, but the company promised to appeal against the decision.
The companies have now ended all litigation, according to a statement on Monday, and have agreed to jointly develop “new and innovative products” that will earn both companies’ revenue. Financial details of the settlement were not revealed.
“There is more to be gained by working together to develop new markets and reaching new customers than can be achieved through adversarial paths and we are eager to forge a strong relationship with AP,” said Jorn Lyseggen, Meltwater chief executive and founder.
“Content providers and technology innovators need to come together. Only through a commitment to cooperation and innovation can we increase the pie for all parties,” he added.
Gary Pruitt, AP president and chief executive, said the company was pleased with the settlement.
“The litigation is behind us, and we are looking forward to partnering with Meltwater in a positive and constructive relationship going forward. With Meltwater’s expertise and innovative approach to develop new products for new markets and the depth and speed of AP’s global content, we can provide customers both new and existing products focused on their needs.”
The settlement shows that financial incentives enticed both parties to end the litigation, said Ralph Cathcart, partner at Ladas & Parry LLP in New York.
“What brought them to the table is dollar is king. Really, these two parties concluded ‘you know what, I can live with this if this is beneficial from a monetary perspective.’”
Meltwater must have come up with an attractive proposal, he said, and is likely to be earning less money from the new products, as it was struggling in the litigation after being defeated in the district court.
He added: “If push came to shove on appeals, the AP probably would have prevailed.”
At the same time, he said, the AP will be happy with the settlement because in a protracted appeals process it may have faced a backlash from free speech activists worried about the hampering of fair use, and it would have wanted to avoid the resultant “bad press”.
While there was no mention of a licensing agreement, Cathcart said the settlement will probably include some form of licence that limits the amount of content Meltwater can lift from AP articles.
