NEW YORK: Media and communications platform Cision has filed a counterclaim to Dow Jones’ lawsuit against it, alleging breach of contract by the media company.
Cision spokesperson Josh Vlasto said in a statement that Cision is denying the allegations in Dow Jones’ complaint and intends to “vigorously defend” its rights and businesses.
“Our company deeply respects our partners and is relentlessly focused on ensuring that our customers’ needs are met and that our agreements are honored,” Vlasto said via email. “Unfortunately, Dow Jones breached its fundamental obligations under the agreement, such as exclusivity, confidentiality and customer marketing.”
In the counterclaim, filed in New York on Wednesday, Cision said that before and after the execution of the Dow Jones partner agreement, the company failed to meet its legal obligations. It noted 12 identified breaches of the contract by Dow Jones and 20 misrepresentations or fraudulent omissions that Dow Jones used to induce Cision to enter the agreement, according to the legal documents.
A Dow Jones spokesperson said in an emailed statement that Cision’s claims are “unfounded and nothing more than a smokescreen seeking to mask Cision’s breach of contract.”
“Cision’s counterclaims are merely an attempt to divert attention from its own fundamental mismanagement and failure to act as a responsible licensee of premium, trusted news content,” the statement added. “Dow Jones will vigorously defend its position in court.”
Cision’s counterclaim cites Dow Jones’ partnership with OpenAI, a “well-publicized” partner of Meltwater, which Cision described as its “biggest competitor.” The deal, which occurred in May 2024, was a breach of the agreement made with Cision that made it the “exclusive” provider of certain proprietary Dow Jones content, the claim says.
Dow Jones publishes The Wall Street Journal, Dow Jones Newswires, Factiva, Barron’s, MarketWatch and Financial News.
Cision believed Meltwater’s agreement with Dow Jones was set to expire on or about May 15 of this year, the claim adds, despite Metlwater’s communication to customers that it would continue to have access to Dow Jones Information long after that date.
The court filing says that when Cision corresponded with Dow Jones to express concerns over its exclusivity, Dow Jones sent an immediate response stating that it deemed the agreement to be “terminated.”
After both parties agreed to wind down the partnership, Cision says Dow Jones filed its complaint on July 15, failing to provide Cision with an opportunity to seal its confidential information prior. Dow Jones also did so in a way that the media was informed of the lawsuit two hours before it provided a courtesy copy to Cision’s counsel, Cision said.
Vlasto said that Cision, at that time, attempted to resolve the issues privately and amicably.
“It is unfortunate that Dow Jones chose to suddenly and unexpectedly violate the confidentiality of our agreement with the filing of this legal action,” his statement said. “While Cision is responding to the litigation through the court system, we remain focused on providing our customers with best-in-class service throughout the process.”
In July, Dow Jones filed a lawsuit against Cision for breach of contract, less than one year into a multi-year partnership.
The lawsuit, filed in New York, followed a May email to Dow Jones, sent by Cision CEO Cali Tran, saying that Cision would “suspend further payments to Dow Jones” because the company had lost $6.5 million on the relationship and the partnership was “not economically viable” for Cision, the court documents state.
At the time, a Dow Jones spokesperson said in a statement that Cision informed Dow Jones it was no longer willing to pay the contractually agreed-upon fees to access the company’s journalism and content within the Factiva platform.
In September 2023, Cision entered into a long-term agreement to exclusively distribute Dow Jones content to PR and corporate communications professionals. In exchange for this exclusive license, Cision agreed to pay annual fees totaling $173,624,000 over eight years, according to the court filing.
Dow Jones’ decision to file the complaint publicly interfered with Cision’s business relations with four companies, including Sprinklr, Lone Buffalo, a major software company and a major consumer goods company, the counterclaim says.
As a result, Cision was unable to complete negotiations with prospective customers, it said, suffering damages no less than $173,624,000 — the same fee Cision agreed to pay as part of the original agreement. Cision is requesting the court award damages in an amount to be determined at trial, no less than the cost of damages, plus interest to the maximum extent permitted by law.
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