The Birmingham age-herald., 1917-06-22
CORRUPTED EDITOR

and (properly) received pay from l plaintiff for so doing.
 CORRUPTED EDITOR
 Defendant corrupted this editor to apprise its agents of what he thus learned and disseminated such news as the result of it's own legitimate labor. The second head of injunction is based on the fact that there is in New York city newspaper which has the service of both plaintiff and defendant. In it's pub lication office is one of the printing tele- graph machines aforesaid and the man. agers of said newspaper were induced to permit agents of defendant to enter their office, read what was coming in on the machine and use the information thus , acquired as the basis for telegraphic and other items, represented as the gather lngs Of it's own employees from original source; or at least they were not other wise marked or described.
 FACTS NOT DISPUTED
 'The material facts on which plaintiff moved for such injunctive relief as was refused below, are undisputed and as fol- lows:
 The natural place for receiving news from Europe (and indeed beyond) is the Atlantic seaboard and especially New York. Bulletins and early editions put out by members of plaintiff in the sea- board cities are read by agents of de- fendant and the substance thereof trans mitted by wire westward sold to de- fendant's customers and by them printed. perhaps without any knowledge on their part that the origin and sole basis for de- fendant's dispatch is (e. g) a bulletin posted in New York by member of plaintiff, as the result of plaintiffs ef- forts; and certainly without any such in- formation given them by defendant.
 ATTEMPTS TO JUSTIFY
 That this practice obtains, the answer admits, and justifies the same as a mat ter of law, while alleging Gin substancel that 1t is no more thaN a part or legiti- mate outgrowth of the newspaper habit of utilizing tips
 This word signifies a bare intimation that something has happened When such tip has been verified by independent in- vestigation on the part of the person re- ceiving it, the facts may be and are dis seminated as discovered by the journal or news agency getting the tip This practice may, we believe, be regarded as universal in newsgathering circles.
 DID NOT CONSIDER TIP"
 sThe district judge did not consider the utilization of tips as having any necessary bearing on the bodily appro- priation and sale of news from early edi- tions and bulletins: and felt satisfied that as matter of law plaintiff should have all the relief demanded, but regarding this last question as to the effect of pub ucation by an Associated Press paper, as one of first impression, refused the third demand of plaintiff and remitted the mat ter to this court
 If the facts are as we now have found them, no party asserts that the acts re- strained by the injunction as issued can ha i'm Gnd att ;a Ioxx order so far as attacked by defendant S appeal, we consider granted in the fair exercise of discretion, and therefore proper
 Plaintiffs appeal, being from a refusal to grant injunction pendente lite is of an infrequent kind, but still more rare is the presentation by such appeal of a clear-cut question of law, upon undis- puted facts largely admitted in the plead ings These facts enable us to render opinion without danger of even seeming to trench upon discretionary matters We are practically requested to act by the district court itself
 EASY TO DISCRIMINATE
 There is no difficulty in discrimina tin g between the utiliza ton of tips and the bodily appropriation of another's labor in laccumula ting and stating information. As a matter of fact. one who on hearing u TuIIOi UT dSSeTllOT, investigates ana verifies it. whether with much or little effort. acquires knowledge by processes of his own; the result is his. In all the re- iations of life, most of what most of us say we know, is but the result of veri- flying tips given, consciously or uncon- sciously by those in our environment. As matter of law or rule, it is impossible to say in advance what measure of in- vestigation or verifcaton must satisfy the censor, and the law does not seek to compel the vain or impossible. Doubt less there have been and will be again instances where the asserted or pretended investigation is but an excuse for appro- pria tion, where no req sonable man would believe that any effort had been made except to conceal the absence of original work. but no such case is before us.
 MAIN QUESTION
 "What is before us. and on the pleadings, is whether it is lawful. and if unlawful whether equity affords a remedy, for the editions, the result or habit of appropriating from bulletins and early editions, the rsult of plain tiffs labors and selling or otherwise gainfully using the same, either in the plaintiffs form or after passing it under the hand of 'rewrite' man. This adjective Is the trade description of one who changes the language or sequence of some composition of words; his labors do not change tho substance and are immaterial to the present controversy.
 Defendant iustifies bodily appro- priation without independent investi- gation, because CD all plaintiff ever has in possession or for communica- tion are facts; (2) all defendant takes are facts and (3) there can be no prop erty in facts; but (4) if there be any such property or it is lost ec instant any member of plaintiff, in accordance with its own rules, publishes said facts by showing bulletin or distributing an edition.
 PLAINTIFFS REPLY
 "Plaintiff replies that it is (a) untrue that facts alone constitute its stock in trade; it deals in news and (b) in news there is property right recog- nized by reason and authority. Fur ther Co such property right enures to and persists in the plaintiffs entity and each one of it's members, and (d) is not exhausted by the act of sin gle number, which is (e) improperly called by defendant publication, word Inappropriate to news, which IS not literary property Finally (f) plaintiff complains of defendants ad- mitted practices as unfair competi- tion.
 "1, 2 a) With the existence of a truth; with physical facts per SC, nei- ther plaintiff nor defendant is con- cerned; for them facts in that abso- lute sense are but as ore in a noun tain or fish in the sea-valueless un- less and until by labor mined or