McClatchy invests in company to guard news content ('NewsRight')

Source: Sacramento Bee

The McClatchy Co. of Sacramento said today it's one of 29 initial investors in a company designed to license and make profit from online news content.

McClatchy, which publishes The Bee, joined with other news companies in launching NewsRight, a fledgling business led by former ABC News President David Westin. NewsRight's goal is to become a clearinghouse of sorts to make sure media companies get compensated by those reprinting online stories.

"NewsRight's mission is to make sure consumers continue to benefit from all the original news reporting they want while ensuring those who republish content do so with integrity," Westin said in a press release.

Read more: http://www.sacbee.com/2012/01/05/4165232/mcclatchy-invests-in-company-to.html

Sure sounds like the next version of Righthaven to me:
http://paidcontent.org/article/419-newsright-launches-with-29-publishers-not-a-litigation-shop/

While NewsRight is headed by a lawyer, it would be a mistake to confuse NewsRight with Righthaven or other concepts based on raising money from copyright transgressions. Publishers can use the information provided by NewsRight to pursue their own actions but that’s not the startup’s mission. “We don’t own the copyrights, we couldn’t bring a lawsuit if we wanted to,” says Westin. “We really are interested in entering to business relationships and contracts. We’re not a litigation shop.”

Full list of NewsRight founding members: Advance Publications, Associated Press, Axel Springer Group, A.H.Belo Management Services, Belo Management Services, Business Wire, Community Newspaper Holdings, El Dia, Galveston Newspapers, Gatehouse Media, The Gazette Company, Hearst Newspapers, Journal Communications (NYSE: JRN), Landmark Media Enterprises, McClatchy (NYSE: MNI), Media General (NYSE: MEG), MediaNews Group, Morris Communications, Morris Multimedia, NPG Newspapers, The New York Times Co., Ogden Newspapers, Pioneer Newspapers, Schurz Communications, E.W. Scripps (NYSE: SSP), Stephens Media, Swift Communications, Times Publishing Co. and Washington Post Co.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/01/05/idUS228452584620120105
NewsRight puts code into every piece published by the sites it works with – 841 newspaper sites at this point – and that code travels with the story across the web. If someone else steals it, NewsRight’s database registers it.