Monday, 20 August 2007

Analyst Firm Pays USD 300K Fine To Settle Copyright Dispute

A Menlo Park, California based analyst firm—Knowledge Networks Inc. has agreed to pay USD 300,000 fine to settle a dispute that it distributed news articles to its employees without permission of the copyright owners.

The Knowledge Networks settlement is the first under the Software & Information Industry Association's Corporate Content Anti-Piracy Programme.

Knowledge Networks' marketing group had been distributing press packets to some employees on a regular basis, the SIIA, which was started in October said. Those packets contained articles under copyright and owned by SIIA members such as the Associated Press, United Press International and publishing company Reed Elsevier, the trade group said.