Subject: Wire services online From: jvncnet!ajc.com!mg (Mike Gordon) Date: Wed, 5 Oct 1994 10:21:41 EST

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Date	10/5/94
Subject	Wire services online
From	Mike Gordon
To	online news

  Wire services online
On 10/4/94 Robin W. wrote:

>We're obviously going the legal route with the wire services, but I see 
>a lot of online services offering an abundance of wire info.  I doubt 
>many of them have special electronic redistribution agreements with 
>these services.  If anyone out there is handling wire arrangements in a 
>different manner, please post.  Also, if anyone thinks they have the 
>rights to distribute this information in any format (elect/print) they deem

>proper without a new contract, please speak up.

I can't speak for any other service, but Access Atlanta currently offers AP
Online, PR Newswire and Newsbytes to its readers, plus portions of the
SportsTicker feed and wire stories from all the services used by The
Journal-Constitution: New York Times, L.A. Times-Washington Post,
Knight-Ridder, etc. We also display AP Leaf photos as JPEG images and are
starting to transmit cartoons.

We have agreements with all our wire and syndicate providers for electronic
use of their material -- wouldn't dream of using it otherwise. We've been
working closely with AP in particular and have an excellent relationship
with them. Some wire services allowed us to use part or all of their copy
free for the first six months after we launched, as an experiment; we're
currently negotiating longer-term arrangements in which money changes hands.
The only real limitation we've encountered is that we cannot keep New York
Times stories online for more than 24 hours, for contract reasons unrelated
to our service.

The Journal-Constitution's standard contract with freelance writers and
photographers also gives us rights for electronic distribution and archival
-- something online providers need to remember not to overlook.

I know that some electronic newspapers have used pirated wire material, but
it's an unprofessional thing to do, and legally indefensible. What about Web
home pages that offer hypertext links to places where the AP wire is
available? Does that constitute republication? Is it legal? Is it ethical?


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