GateHouse Media v. That's Great News [1]

On June 30, 2010, GateHouse Media, Inc. [2], a publisher of local newspapers around the country, sued That's Great News, LLC [3](TGN), in the U.S. District Court in the Northern District of Illinois. The complaint [4] alleged breach of contract, copyright infringement, trademark infringement, false advertising, and unfair competition.

TGN sells plaques with article reprints to the people and companies featured in the articles. According to allegations in the complaint, TGN had reprinted copyrighted materials from GateHouse's newspapers, including the Illinois paper Rockford Register Star [5],without authorization. Also according to GateHouse, TGN displayed GateHouse materials on its own web site "as an example of the reprints it sells," which violated the noncommercial and no-derivative works limitations of the Creative Commons license.

Furthermore, GateHouse argued that TGN's conduct violated the terms of a settlement agreement the parties signed on or about October 8, 2008.  According to GateHouse's complaint, GateHouse sent TGN a cease and desist letter on September 10, 2008, after which TGN agreed "to permanently cease the unauthorized copying of original content appearing in any GateHouse newspapers or websites."

On July 26, 2010, TGN moved to extend the time to file its answer until August 9, 2010.