The Birmingham age-herald., 1917-06-22
LIMIT PROPERTY DOCTRINE

AsOA bONtl NI4NL
 Tt is sought, if not to limit the doe Urine of property in news to the time during which it remains locked up in the breast of its gatherer; to interpret the decisions cited as meaning only that news is like a trade secret, lost when divulged in the course of business.
 'Doubtless the analogy of restraining in equity wrongful knowledge of private business methods, was very useful in de- veloping the doctrine that the courts ought to protect in every reasonable way the valuable right of property in nfor- nation. But news is far more than a trade secret, for that must remain private to have its best value. while news is obtained for publicity alone. The true line of decision is indicated by the con- clusion of the court in the Christie case that the informa tion will not become pub lie property until the plaintiff has gained his reward. Of course. this means his reasonable reward, and as in that instance of trade quotations; divulging the same to one patrons office full of customers did not reasonably terminate plaintiff s property; so here it is reasonable and just that each member of plaintiff, and plaintiff itself has property right in its own news until the reasonable reward of each member is received and that means (with due allowance for the earth's TO- tation) until plaintiffs most western member has enjoyed his reward; which is, not to have his local competitor sup piled in time for competition with what he has paid for Surely this is modest limit of rights.
 But the foregoing is thought to be avoided, if not controverted, by dwelling on the word publication and insisting in substance that when (e. gD single New York paper (being a member of plaintff) prints an item and sells a copy of that edition all the world can copy as it pleases, to any extent and for any purpose, commercial or otherwise; be- cause nothing but copyright protects that paper, and copyright does not cover state ments of fact. but merely their literary dress or form
 ASSUMPTION OF ARGUMENT
 '.The argument assumes that what plaintiff is interested in, and is trying to preserve, is literary property. or anything capable of copyright protection. It may be granted that the newspaper first giv- ing out the news in question is copyright ed, that fact statements are not thereby protected as such, and that publication at common law terminated an author S rights in his manuscript and the fruits of his brain; yet it still remains true that plaintiffs property in news is not liter ary at all, that 1t is not capable of copyright and that publication as that word Is used in the long line of deci- sions regarding literary rights, has no determinative bearing on this case No one before ever attributed to publication sense that would limit lawful bus- ness to few degrees of longitude. The word is legally very old and of no one certain meaning. Publication of evidence in equity or admiralty. of banns. of li- bel, etc. bear but remote relation to the act which is thought once to have ter minated an authors property and now is a reouisite to statutory copyright The thought, however, running through all the uses of the word. is an advising of