Just days after settling a lawsuit with several media giants, TotalNews is once again flirting with the same framing technology that spurred accusations of copyright and trademark infringement.
On Thursday, the Arizona start-up agreed to stop framing Web sites belonging to CNN, Dow Jones, Reuters, Time Inc., Times Mirror, and The Washington Post, but was permitted to continue offering a standard link to them through a "link license" issued by the plaintiffs.
But now TotalNews founder Roman Godzich has introduced "Personal Edition." Promoted by two buttons on the homepage, it lets users assemble a news page that can potentially contain sites like CNN and The Washington Post, either in or out of frames.
Godzich, who says he settled the case in part because his company did not have the funds to mount an adequate legal defense, seems unconcerned about potentially stirring up a hornets' nest for a second time. "If they want to, they can sue the user," he told Wired News on Wednesday.
Personal Edition lets users decide how they'd like to view any news site. Any site that a user adds to "Personal links" by typing in the URL on his own will show up within TotalNews' borders. "That's the user's choice," Godzich says. "I have no control over that. I'm not going to outlaw the user."
Cyberlaw observers were uncertain if Personal Edition flouts TotalNews' agreement to stop framing the plaintiffs' sites.
"One could say, well, this is the user doing things," says David Post, a professor at Georgetown Law School and co-director of the Cyberspace Law Institute. "There's a different analysis for copyright purposes if CNN is alleging that TotalNews is itself infringing, or assisting others, contributing to someone else's infringement."
It's more difficult for an "injured party" like CNN to succeed with a claim of contributory infringement against TotalNews, Post said. CNN or another plaintiff would have to seek redress with the direct infringer: a user of TotalNews' site.
Jeremy Feigelson, an attorney at Debevoise & Plimpton, which represented the plaintiffs, said he wasn't yet familiar with the new feature: "This is a wrinkle that comes as little bit of news." He said his firm would review the issue with TotalNews' attorneys, but wouldn't comment further.
Meanwhile, USA Today Online marketing manager Allegra Young said that on Monday she sent a letter to TotalNews asking that the service stop framing the USA Today site.
"We heard about the settlement, and we wanted to rectify the difference" between how the USA Today site and the plaintiffs' sites are presented, Young said. "We have talked to [Godzich] and we're working toward an amicable resolution," she added.
