The Indiana Publisher

Page 11 May 2021 The following questions were submitted by Parke County Sentinel (Rockville), The Republican (Danville), The Liberty Herald: We have a few ques- tions regarding the changes to public notice law from S.E.A. 332. 1. If we offer to post and archive the notices for the local government entities do we need a separate website or could it be done on our current website? 2. Do these new regulations apply to the public schools as well? You could use your newspaper website, but do put the public notices outside any paywall so the public can access at no cost. The govern- ment entity would just declare your website as the location where the public normally received news about that government entity. (It's up to you whether you try to negotiate any fee for providing this service for them.. Yes, this public notice legis- lation applies to public school districts. I can't find Indiana's definition of a newspaper. I know we have to delin- eate how much space we have in each issue for ads versus news for the postal service, but I can't find what exactly defines a "newspaper Here's the statutory definition under the public notice advertising law at :IC 5-3-1-0.4 "Newspaper" defined Sec. 0.4. As used in this chapter, "newspaper" refers to a newspaper: (1) that: (A) is a daily, weekly, semi- weekly, or triweekly newspaper of general circulation; (B) has been published for at least three (3) consecutive years in the same city or town; (C) has been entered, autho- rized, and accepted by the United States Postal Service for at least three (3) consecutive years as mail- able matter of the periodicals class; (D) has at least fifty percent (50%) of all copies circulated paid for by subscribers or other purchasers at a rate that is not nominal; and (E) has had an average circula- tion during the preceding year of at least two hundred (200), based on the average paid or requested circulation for the preceding twelve (12) months reported in the newspaper's United States Postal Service Statement of Ownership published by the newspaper in October of each year; or (2) that: (A) is a daily, weekly, semi- weekly, or triweekly newspaper of general circulation; (B) has been entered, autho- rized, and accepted by the United States Postal Service as mailable matter of the periodicals class; (C) has at least fifty percent (50%) of all copies circulated paid for by subscribers or other purchasers at a rate that is not nominal; and (D) meets the greater of the fol- lowing conditions: (i) The newspaper's paid circu- lation during the preceding year is equal to at least fifty percent (50%) of the paid circulation for the largest newspaper with a peri- odicals class permit located in the county in which the newspaper is published, based on the average paid or requested circulation for the preceding twelve (12) months reported in the newspaper's United States Postal Service Statement of Ownership published by the news- paper in October of each year or based on the newspaper's initial application for a permit from the United States Postal Service. (ii) The newspaper has an average daily paid circulation of one thousand five hundred (1,500) based on the average paid or requested circulation for the preceding twelve (12) months reported in the newspaper's United States Postal Service Statement of Ownership published by the newspaper in October of each year or based on the newspa- per's initial application for a permit from the United States Postal Service. Union County is hav- ing their bicentennial this year and we have been creating a book to commemorate the occasion. We believe a former employee may also be writing his own book, which may include much of what was written in the Liberty Herald or other publica- tions of ours. He has not sought permission to use the newspaper content. Is he allowed to do this? Generally, the work of an employee belongs to the newspaper, not an editor or report- er. Since he was an employee of Whitewater Publications prior to your purchase of the newspa- pers, do you know whether there was any agreement the former employee and the former owner that gave the employee any con- trol or rights to what he wrote? I doubt that would be the case, but if there was an agreement you can't now invoke a copyright that was already given away. Assuming, there was no previ- ous agreement, the newspaper's copyright holds. You could have your attorney draft a letter putting the former employee on notice not to publish content from the Brookville and Liberty newspapers without your permission. He could try to defend himself from any legal action you would take under the Fair Use Doctrine. That would allow for some usage, but the court would take into account factors as to the impact on your copyright based on the publication of his book. Depending upon how extensive he would copy the original stories would be mate- rial for the court. If he's using the original stories as sources of facts in a story, but rewriting the infor- mation and giving credit to the Liberty Herald for specific quotes lifted, it would be harder for you to prevail. If you need an attorney with familiarity with newspaper legal representation, I can get you some names. You should be able to get a free consultation to run the facts by her/him to see what your legal options and chances of success are. Send your questions to Steve Key, HSPA executive director and general counsel, skey@hspa.com or call (317) 624-4427. Q Publish public notices outside of paywall so public can access HSPA Legal Hotline A A Looking for an employee? Post your open positions at www.hspa.com/jobs/post-a-job/ or email info to sgoldsby@hspa.com. Your job listing will appear online and in the Indiana Publisher's job listing. Q Public notice advertising law outlines what defines a newspaper A Q Former employee needs to seek permission to republish paper's content

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