Oh boy, yay for the land of the free – or not so free. A couple of online newsletter publishers, not unlike Arts Hub, have won mega million $ settlements against companies who were copying and redistributing newsletters without paying the subscription fees.

http://www.fortune.com/fortune/articles/0,15114,1088090,00.html?promoid=rss

“The suits are the progeny of a shocking verdict that a Baltimore federal jury handed down in October 2003, ordering its hometown brokerage firm, Legg Mason, to fork over $19.7 million for willful copyright infringement in a suit brought by a six-employee, Florida-based stock market newsletter called Lowry’s Reports. (Subscription price: $700 per year.) Legg Mason appealed, but settled the case in June 2005, paying Lowry’s between $11 million and $12 million according to its SEC filings.”