Owning Information

Map Branches

• INS v. AP 1918, USSC
  • Facts & Issues
    • Associated Press
      • Members sell papers
      • Contract for confidence
    • Intl News Service
      • Bribing AP members?
      • "Pirating" news?
    • Lower courts
      • District court stopped bribery
      • Appeals court stopped reporting
    • Issues for USSC
      • Did INS violate AP's "property"?
      • Was INS competing unfairly?
  • Pitney J. (majority)
    • No copyright
      • Registration required then
      • Protects expression, not facts
    • News is "common property"
      • No rights vs. public
    • Or sometimes "quasi property"
      • B/t competitors
      • For a limited time
    • Why?
      • Reward labour
      • Offer incentives
      • Other values?
  • Holmes (dissent)
    • Theft or plagiarism?
  • Brandeis (dissent)
    • Institutional capacity
• Victoria Park 1937, HCA
  • Facts & Issues
    • Victoria Park
      • Operated raceway
    • Taylor/Angles/CBC
      • Built platform
      • Play-by-play
      • Radio broadcasts
    • Issues
      • Grant injunction?
      • Property in a spectacle?
  • Latham (majority)
    • Law won't build fences
    • No defamation, contract, confidence
    • No quasi-property for investing
  • Dixon (concurs)
    • Nuisance
      • Interference with use of land
      • Watching & reporting allowed
    • No injunction
      • Not all intangible value protected
  • Rich (dissent)
    • Nuisance?
      • Land owners' rights limited
      • Racing is "usual, reasonable, profitable"
      • Broadcasting is "unusual," not "normal"

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