Technology giant Apple Inc has agreed to pay an undisclosed amount of money for allowing five smartpone applications to use content from eight Thai news providers without permission.
Screen capture of Thai Newspaper app.
Paiboon Amornpinyokiat, a legal adviser to Thailand's Online News Providers Association, said on Friday that Apple's lawyer, a board member, had on Wednesday contacted the association for negotiations.
The two sides made a compromise agreement, and the association then withdrew its criminal lawsuit from the Central Intellectual Property and International Trade Court, Mr Paiboon said.
On Feb 5 this year, the Online News Providers Association together with Thai Rath, Daily News, ASTV Manager, The Nation, Komchadluek, Krungthep Turakij, Post Today and Siam Sport filed a lawsuit against Apple on trademark and copyright infringement charges.
The charges were made after the California-based company let THAINEWs+, Tiny-Thai News Reader, Thai News Reader, EveryNews and Thai Newspaper use content from the eight news providers without permission.
Mr Paiboon said this was the first case where local news providers got together to demand that Apple stop reproducing copyrighted material on mobile equipment.
He said there are two similar pending cases filed by the association and local news providers against Google Inc (Thailand) and Bangkok Search and Technologies Co Ltd - owner of traffic provider www.yengo.com.
Mr Paiboon said the law stipulates there is no copyright on news stories, but there is copyright on news analysis, editorials, photos in news stories and compilations and arrangements of news stories.
This case would raise the standard of respect for photographic and news copyright, he added.