Meltwater Statement Regarding AP Copyright Litigation

SAN FRANCISCO, March 21, 2013 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Meltwater today expressed disappointment with yesterday's ruling by the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York in its ongoing copyright litigation with the Associated Press.

Meltwater's service, like many other search engines, displays short excerpts from materials that are made publicly available on the Internet to help its customers locate information that they are looking for, linking users directly to the original versions of content on the web. The district court rejected Meltwater's argument that its presentation of those excerpts constitute a fair use of the AP articles to which it links.

Meltwater believes the ruling misapplies the fair use doctrine and is at odds with a variety of prior decisions that have paved the way for today's Internet. Meltwater is especially troubled by the implications of this decision for other search engines and services that have long relied on the fair use principles for which Meltwater is fighting.

In January, the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and Public Knowledge, with legal assistance from Stanford Law School's Center for Internet and Society, filed an amicus brief in support of Meltwater, arguing that AP's theory would restrict the use and development of services that allow users to find, organize and share public information.

"We're disappointed by the court's decision and we strongly disagree with it," says Jorn Lyseggen, CEO of Meltwater. "We're considering all of our options, but we look forward to having this decision reviewed by the Court of Appeals, which we are confident will see the case a different way."

About Meltwater

Meltwater helps businesses drive growth and build brands. Meltwater's online intelligence platform analyzes billions of digital documents daily to extract precise, timely business insights that help more than 20,000 companies understand their markets, engage their customers, and master the new social business environment. With offices in 27 countries, Meltwater is dedicated to personal, global service built on local expertise.
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Kimling Lam
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kimling.lam@meltwater.com