Los Angeles Times v.
Free Republic
Katy Clevenger
Fall 2011
Introduction to Library and Information Science
Why the Law Suite?
O The Free Republic website was posting full
length copies of news articles from the Los
Angeles Times and the Washington Post.
O According to the Tech Law Journal (1998-2008)
the Los Angele Times and the Washington Post
sued the Free Republic website for copyright
infringement for publishing copies of news
stories from their website without permission (LA
Times v. Free Republic).
O
Tech Law Journal. LA Times v. Free Republic. (1998-2008). Retrieved November 7, 2011, from
http://www.techlawjournal.com/courts/freerep/Default.htm
A Compromise
O The Los Angeles Times and the Washington
Post wanted the Free Republic website to
post excerpts of the Articles and use
hyperlinks to the original source for the full
text (L.A. times v. Free Republic).
O
Wikipedia. L.A. Times v. Free republic. (2001). Retrieved November 7, 2011, from
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L.A._Times_v._Free_Republic
Response to the deal
O Jim Robinson (the creator of the Free
Republic website) replied the newspapers
would have to “rip the keyboard from his
cold dead fingers” (L.A. Times v. Free
Republic).
O
Wikipedia. L.A. Times v. Free republic. (2001). Retrieved November 7, 2011, from
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L.A._Times_v._Free_Republic
Defense
O The Free Republic used the fair use defense and
then later cross-filed for summary judgments citing
a First Amendment defense after the fair use
defense was rejected by Judge Margaret M. Morrow
(Wikipedia, L.A. Times v. Free Republic).
O
Wikipedia. L.A. Times v. Free republic. (2001). Retrieved November 7, 2011, from
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L.A._Times_v._Free_Republic
What is Fair Use?
O According the website Whatis.com
O Fair use is a legal concept that allows the reproduction of
copyrighted material for certain purposes without obtaining
permission and without paying a fee or royalty. Purposes
permitting the application of fair use generally include review,
news reporting, teaching, or scholarly research. The idea of
fair use originally arose for written works. But with the advent
of digital technology and the Internet, fair use has sometimes
been applied to the redistribution of musical works,
photographs, videos, and computer programs. The limits of
fair use are not always clear. Fair use may (but does not
always) include the reproduction of a song or photograph to
give to a single relative or friend as a gift (Fair Use).
O
Whatis.com. Fair use. (2008). Retrieved November 8, 2011 from
http://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/0,,sid9_gci1089600,00.html
What does the First
Amendment say?
O According to the Cornell University Law School
the first Amendment says Freedom of
expression consists of the rights to freedom of
speech, press, assembly and to petition the
government for a redress of grievances, and the
implied rights of association and belief (first
Amendment).
O
Cornell University Law School Legal Information Institute. First Amendment. (2010).
Retrieved November 9, 2011, fromhttp://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/First_amendment
What do I think?
O This freedom does not mean that someone can
copy something exactly just because it is news
and claim it as their own work. Or in this case
make it so the original author will not get the
monetary benefit that they would otherwise get
from their work. Those are still the words of the
original author. Mr. Robinson did not try to
change the work in any way to make it his own
and in most cases he would say where he got
the information from freely.
What do I think?
O The thing that I think is most interesting as I
was researching this court case was the fact
that there was a copyright date on the Free
Republic website. He did not want anyone
to still “his” work, but it ok for him to still
someone else’s work.
References
O Cornell University Law School Legal Information Institute. First
Amendment. (2010). Retrieved November 9, 2011,
from http://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/First_amendment
O Tech Law Journal. LA Times v. Free Republic. (1998-2008).
Retrieved November 7, 2011, from http://www.techlaw
journal.com/courts/freerep/Default.htm
O Whatis.com. Fair use. (2008). Retrieved November 8, 2011
from http://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/0,,sid9_
gci1089600,00.html
O Wikipedia. L.A. Times v. Free republic. (2001). Retrieved
November 7, 2011, fromhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki
/L.A._Times_v._Free_Republic