Public relations news monitor Meltwater has come out fighting – but not too hard – after as we revealed on Tuesday it had been blocked from indexing News International’s Times Online.
It’s issued a 259-word statement in response that says… well, not much. The essential point: Meltwater is sticking to its guns and waiting for what it hopes will be an industry-standard ruling in its favour from the UK’s Copyright Tribunal, to which it took the Newspaper Licensing Agency’s (NLA) new online use license.
The sticking point: News International’s Times Online, here, is operating a similar principle to the NLA, of which it is a member – but it’s not operating the agency’s new licenses; it’s acting unilaterally…
Here’s the full response… For the back story, read the previous post…
“Earlier this week, Times Online, published by News International, took the step of blocking Meltwater from indexing its website. We find this move both surprising and disappointing as Meltwater has sought a ruling by the UK Copyright Tribunal to provide clarity on current UK copyright law. Yet, despite the fact that the Tribunal is still months away from reaching a decision, News International has chosen not to wait for a judgment, but to pursue its own course of action unilaterally.
“Meltwater acknowledges that there are different interpretations of the current UK copyright law today. However, we firmly believe that our services do not infringe upon anyone