Newspaper Publishers and Bitcoin Browser Brave Tangle over Publishing Rights

By April 9, 2016Bitcoin Business

Brave Software Inc. , the creator of a browser that blocks unwanted web ads and replaces them with ads generated by Brave with payouts in Bitcoin, has been advised by the Newspaper Association of America (NAA) that its plan to replace publishers’ ads on their own websites with Brave’s advertising is illegal, a charge that Brave immediately disputed. The NAA claims to have 17 member companies and more than 1,200 newspapers.

Brave will pay advertisers, users, agencies and publishers in bitcoin.

“Brave’s proposed business model crosses legal and ethical boundaries, and should be viewed as illegal and deceptive by the courts, consumers and those who value the creation of content,” David Chavern, NAA CEO, stated in a letter . NAA States Its Case

The NAA letter said its sites and mobile applications give news reporting, video content, feature writing and photojournalism that is edited, researched and produced at “extraordinary” cost. The industry spends more than $5 billion per year on reporting in the U.S., and it distributes it online for free or at “highly subsidized rates” with online ad revenue.

Chavern said Brave should feel free to create its own content on its own platforms, but it cannot launch its advertising business “on the backs of our journalists, editors, technologists and other staff.”

The letter lists ways that Brave’s business model violates publishing rights to protect copyrighted content and trademarks.

The letter stated that Brave’s plan to allow customers to make bitcoin donations to NAA’s websites and for Brave to donate an unstated percentage of its revenue from the sale of ads to the NAA’s websites does not begin to compensate for the loss of its ability to fund its work by displaying its own advertising. NAA Rejects Brave’s Offer

The NAA rejected compensation or consideration Brave will offer as part of its […]

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