Copyright Law and the Courts
Overview of The New York Times Co. et al. v. Jonathan Tasini, et al.
Jonathan Tasini and five freelance writers brought suit against The New York Times Co., Newsday Inc., and The Time Incorporated Magazine Co. for copyright infringement as a consequence of the inclusion of their articles in electronic databases. The print publishers licensed rights to print and sell articles to LEXIS/NEXIS and University Microfilms International (UMI), which placed the articles in the electronic databases LEXIS, The New York Times OnDisc (NYTO), and General Periodicals OnDisc (GPO).These four electronic publishers created searchable databases in several different manners. UMI issued CD-ROM products. NYTO is a text-only database containing Times articles presented in the same…
