SHORT TAKES : Copyright Violated, New Kids Say

Lawyers for New Kids on the Block told a federal judge in Los Angeles that the supermarket tabloid Star magazine and USA Today infringed on the pop group’s copyright by setting up for-profit telephone lines about the band.

Attorney Jim Warren said the 900 telephone numbers, which carry per-call charges, are ways to make money--just like T-shirts--and are thus covered by trademark protection laws.

But lawyers for Star and USA Today, which ran the 900 phone polls to gauge the group’s popularity, said the lines are used for news gathering and are protected by the First Amendment.

“We’re in the business of gathering information. We’re in the business of reporting that information,” said Charles Diamond, lawyer for Gannett Satellite Information Network Inc., which publishes USA Today.

After the brief hearing Monday, U.S. District Judge William J. Rea took the case under submission.

The judge indicated earlier however that he was inclined to rule for Gannett and News America Publishing Inc., which publishes the Star weekly, saying the First Amendment protects any activity unless it is commercial and wholly unrelated to news gathering.

The group sued Gannett and News America in March, saying the 900 number services offered by USA Today and Star compete unfairly with two lines set up by New Kids on the Block and violate the group’s trademark rights by using their name and likenesses in advertisements.