The plaintiffs’ claim against the defendant for ‘hot news’ misappropriation of the plaintiff financial firms’ recommendations to clients and prospective clients as to trading in corporate securities is preempted by federal copyright law.

We conclude that in this case, a firm’s ability to make news — by issuing a recommendation that is likely to affect the market price of a security — does not give rise to a right for it to control who breaks that news and how.

—Robert Sack, U.S. Circuit Judge, writing in the joint opinion of a three judge panel, via Bloomberg. The opinion does not impact Judge Cote’s findings of copyright violations by Flyonthewall, it does undermine New York’s hot news doctrine and the enduring notion of property rights for the news.