Meltwater Holding BV v The Newspaper Licensing Agency Ltd

The Copyright Tribunal has handed down an interim decision in this interesting case that concerns the terms on which online newspaper websites can be used by press cutting agencies and web news aggregators.  In reaching its decision, the Tribunal considered evidence in relation to the similarities between traditional press cutting agencies, their online competitors and search engines such as Google.

A related case (The Newspaper Licensing Agency Ltd v Meltwater Holding BV [2010] EWCA Civ 890) is pending before the Supreme Court.

Robert Howe QC (instructed by Berwin Leighton Paisner LLP) acted for the Newspaper Licensing Agency Ltd.  Tom Weisselberg (instructed by Bird & Bird LLP) acted for the Second Intervener, the UK Media Monitoring Association Ltd.

Click here to read the decision Meltwater NLA decision.doc (454 kb)