A High Court ruling in Westlaw’s Appeal against Ross’s Use of Copyrighted Material and its Implications on Intellectual Property Law

Thomson Reuters spokesperson Jeffrey McCoy applauded the ruling in a statement emailed to WIRED. The court granted summary judgment in our favor and it concluded that Westlaw is protected by copyright and cannot be used without our permission, he wrote. The copying of our content was not fair use.

Chris Mammen is a partner who focuses on intellectual property law at Womble Bond Dickinson and he believes that it will make the fair use arguments more difficult. “It puts a finger on the scale towards holding that fair use doesn’t apply,” he says.

As reported previously by Wired, today Judge Bibas wrote in his decision, “None of Ross’s possible defenses holds water” against accusations of copyright infringement, and ultimately rejected Ross’s fair-use defense, relying heavily on the factor of how Ross’s use of copyrighted material affected the market for the original work’s value by building a direct competitor.

The court granted summary judgment and concluded that the editorial content created and maintained by the attorney editors of Westlaw is protected bycopyright and cannot be used without our consent. The copying of our content was not fair use.

A Conversation with Jayeev Surasini at The Verge in 2021 – A Photojournalist’s View on tech, culture, and entertainment

is a senior editor following news across tech, culture, policy, and entertainment. He joined The Verge in 2021 after several years covering news at Engadget.