Re: "hot news" myth

From: Spectrum Press <specpress[_at_]earthlink.net>
Date: Tue, 27 May 1997 11:58:16 -0600

On 22 May 97, Robert Cumbow <cumbr[_at_]perkinscoie.com> wrote:
>
> Dan Agin <specpress[_at_]earthlink.net> wrote:
> >
> > News is not protected, only the expression of news is protected.
>
> This statement is true only in copyright analysis. The common law
> tort of misappropriation is alive, if not entirely well, in many
> jurisdictions.
>
> > So what are we talking about here? Is there such an entity as a
> > "misappropriation" of a fact?
>
> There may very well be. That, at least, as I understand it, is the
> point of this thread.

And may very well NOT be. If tort law is in conflict with the Constitution, one must hope that tort law will get pummeled. The idea of a proprietary fact is so foreign to reason, it sounds disgusting.

Dan Agin

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Spectrum Press Inc.
specpress[_at_]earthlink.net
"It's the words that make us free." Received on Tue May 27 1997 - 17:09:00 GMT