Wetherspoons boss Tim Martin defends column copying in pub magazine
Wetherspoons boss Tim Martin has defended the decision to reprint newspaper columns in his pub chain’s magazine, but admitted he was not sure about the intricacies of copyright law.
The no-frills pub chain raised eyebrows today after it emerged its free magazine, Wetherspoon News, had lifted articles from national newspapers and magazines.
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Columns from the Daily Telegraph, the Spectator and the Financial Times were reprinted in the pub’s magazine alongside commentary by founder and chairman Tim Martin, Buzzfeed News reported.
Martin confirmed Wetherspoons had not asked for permission to reprint the articles, but shrugged off concerns about copyright infringement.
“If it’s OK to quote part of an article and you haven’t used the logo, it must be OK to quote the full article,” he told City A.M.
Wetherspoon News, which claims to be read by two million customers, prints political opinion pieces alongside news updates from branches of the pub chain across the UK.
In the latest edition Martin, who is a staunch Brexit supporter, selected articles he believed gave either compelling or misleading accounts of the Brexit debate and added a personal commentary.
When asked about the copyright issue, the pub boss defended the decision to reprint the columns, saying the magazine was not trying to pass them off as its own work.
But Martin, who gave a talk in Southend this afternoon to promote a no-deal Brexit, admitted he might need to brush up on copyright law.
“I assumed because it’s standard practice to quote what journalists say that it must be OK to quote all of what they say,” he said.
“It’s a grey area. I took my own legal advice on this, which can be dangerous,” he added.
According to fair use copyright laws, articles cannot be copied in their entirety without permission. But it appears unlikely the publications will pursue legal action.
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A spokesperson for the Financial Times said: “Wetherspoons: putting the pub in publishing.”
Spectator editor Fraser Nelson told Buzzfeed the magazine would be seeking compensation in the form of Wetherspoons vouchers.