Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1918-12-24

conduct OF lawful business Is as
much entitled to protection as the
right to guard a property already ac-
quired. ss<s 1t is this right
that furnishes the basis of the turis-
dictioH in the ordinary case Of I'M
fair competition.
mot only do the execution and
transmission Of news require elabo-
rnte organization and a large expend-
iture Of money still, and effort; not
only has it an exchange value to the
gatherer dependent chiefly upon its
novelty and freshness, the regularity
OF the service. its reputed reliability
and thoroughness, and its adaptable
ity to the public needs but also as is
evident, the news>has an exchange
value to one who can misappropriate
it.
The peculiar features of the case
arise from the fact that while novel
~ and freshness forms an element
important Of the business the very
process of distribution and publica-
ton necessarily occupy q good deal
Of time. Compliments service, as
we'll as defendants. is daily service
to the daily newspapers. Most Of the
foreign news reaches this country at
the Atlantic seaboard, principally at
the city of New York, and because of
this, and of time differentials due to
the earth's rotation. the distribution
of news matter throughout the coun-
try is principally from east to west,
and since i'll speed the telegraph and
telephone outstrip the rotation of the
earth, 1t is q simple matter tor de-
PENDANT TO take compIainant's news
from bulletins or caller cdition; ci
compliments memb,.s in the east
ern cities and at nere cost of tele-
graphic transmission cause it to be
published in Western papers issued
at least as early as those served by
complainant. Besides this anG ire
| spective of time differentia!s. irreg-
ularities in Geographic transmission
on different lines and the normal con-
sumption of time in printing and dis
tributing the newspaper result in per-
| hitting pirated news to be placed in
the hands OF Defendants readers
sometimes simultaneous with the ser
vice of competing Associated Press
papers. occasionally even earlier.
Defendant insists that when, with
the sanction and approval of COM
plainant as q result Of the use of its
,, news for the very purpose for which
i is distributed a portion of COM
D1ainant's members communicate it
TO the general public posting it up
nYN hIllI
read, or by issuing it to newspapers
and distributing it indiscriminateiy
complainant no longer has the right
to control the use to be made of it :;
that when it thus reaches the light of
! day it becomes the comomn possess
sion Of all to whom it is accessible,
and that any purchaser of a news
| paper has the right to communicate
t the intelligence which it contains to
! anybody and for any purpose. even
for the purpose Of selling il for prof
1t to newspapers published for profit
in competition with complainant 5
members.
| THE fault in the reasoning lies in
! applying as test the right of the
complainant as against the public in :
stead of considering the rights of
complainant and defendant, Compel
itors in business. as between them
! selves. The right of the purchaser
, of a single newspaper to spread
knowledge Of its contents gratuitous-
~ for any purpose not unreasonably
interfering with compliments right
| to make merchandise of it, may be
admitted. but to transmit that news
I for commercial use in competition
! viii complainants, which is what de-
, PENDANT has done and seeks to JUS
| tify, is a very different matter. In
doing this defendant by it's very act
admits that it is taking material that
has been acquired by complainant as
! the result Of organization and the
expenditure Of labor. skill and mon
| ey and which is salable by complain
1 ant for money. and that defendant in
| appropriating it and selling it as its
own. is endeavoring to reap where it
has not sown, and by dsposing of it
to newspapers that are competitors
Of complainant's members, is appro-
! priating to itself the harvest Of those
who have soWn.
! stripped of all DISCUSSES the pro-
| cess amounts to an unauthorized in
| reference with the normal operation
of compliments legitimate business
precisely at the point where the prof
| il is to be rcaped, in order to divert a
| material portion Of the profit from
| those who have earned it to those
who have not, with special advantage
| TO defendant in the competition be-
cause of the fact that il is not bur-
dened with any part of the expense
of gathering the news. The transac
! ton speaks for itself and n court Of
| equity ought not to hesitate long in
| characterizing 1t as unfair compe-
tion in business.
| lin the underlying principle it is
| much the Same as that which lies at
| the base of the equitable theory of
| considera ton in the law of trusts
! that he who has fairly paid the price
| should have the beneficial use of the
! property. :
The contention that the news is
, abandoned to the public for all pug
! poses when published in the first
newspaper is untenable. Abandon
| ment is a question of intent and the
! entire organization of The Associat-
i ed Press negatives such a purpose.
+; The cost Of the service would be
prohibitive if the reward We're to be
| so limited. No single newspaper, no
/ small group of newspapers could sus-