The New York Times and several other content providers are dealing with a number of paid iPhone apps that are using the providers’ names while scraping content from their websites for unauthorized commercial use. Time Magazine editor Josh Quittner found that several of the top-selling paid apps in the App Store’s News category are unauthorized, such as The New York Times Mobile Reader, New York Times Mobile News Reader, and BBC Mobile News Reader.
The Times’ official app, by contrast, is the number one downloaded free News app. A Times spokeswoman told AllThingsD that the apps “are not authorized and our legal department is looking into the matter,” but for now the apps remain on the store.
Apple has said that is has “a process in the App Store for developers to alert us to possible IP infringement. When we’re notified, our policy includes the removal of the infringing app until a resolution is reached between the parties.”