Dow Jones & Co. settles copyright infringement claim with Cision

Cision AB (Sweden) and Cision US Inc., have paid a significant sum to settle a claim based on Cision’s unauthorized reproduction, distribution, and other misuse of news content published by Dow Jones & Co., including full text articles from The Wall Street Journal.

“Dow Jones aggressively pursues legal action whenever necessary to prevent the unauthorized use of our content,” said Mark H. Jackson, general counsel for Dow Jones, in a statement. “This settlement is another reminder that only paying customers enjoy full access to Dow Jones’ highly valuable journalism, and anyone who free rides on our content will face serious financial repercussions.”

Dow Jones asserted copyright infringement claims against Cision in response to Cision’s regular reproduction and distribution of Dow Jones’ copyrighted articles to Cision’s subscribers, who include public relations professionals at corporations throughout the United States.

The Dow Jones content was originally published mainly in the print and online editions of The Journal, Barron’s and SmartMoney magazines. On March 8, 2012, Cision publicly disclosed that it had received a significant claim of rights infringement, without identifying Dow Jones as the claimant.

The parties have agreed to settle Dow Jones’ claims without litigation. While the matter has been settled to Dow Jones’ satisfaction, the specific terms of the settlement remain confidential.

As a result of the settlement, Cision is no longer redistributing Dow Jones’ original content, and Cision’s subscribers will be directed to Dow Jones if they seek to obtain such content.