Magistrate: Dow Jones Should Get $5 Million For RANsquawk 'Headline Theft'

Defendant

A federal magistrate has ruled that DOW JONES AND CO. is owed $5 million from British audio news headline service REAL-TIME ANALYSIS AND NEWS LTD.'s RANSQUAWK for reading DOW JONES DJX headlines to its subscribers immediately after they were initially published without permission.  LAW360 reports that the ruling follows a federal judge's determination four months ago that RANSQUAWK had violated the common law "hot news" doctrine.

U.S. Magistrate Judge GABRIEL W. GORENSTEIN decided that DOW JONES' demand for $5 million for the "flagrant" violation, based on $3.75 million per month, was fair, using DOW JONES' pricing for licensing its material.

RANSQUAWK has not responded to the suit, and did not file briefs; the MAY ruling was a default judgment, and RANSQUAWK was enjoined from continuing what DOW JONES called piracy of its headlines.  The company has said that fighting the suit would lead to its bankruptcy.

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