iPad news app Zite gets a cease-and-desist letter from publishers

Aggregation app seems similar to Flipboard, so why has it attracted the legal slapdown?

iPad news reader app Zite has received a stern cease-and-desist letter from a group of publishers, including the Washington Post, Associated Press, Gannett, Getty Images, Time and Dow Jones.

The app is described as "a personalised magazine for your iPad", which pulls in articles from news sites and blogs, reformatting them for the tablet's screen.

The publishers want the startup to stop "misappropriating our intellectual property" according to PaidContent. Zite CEO Ali Davar has told All Things Digital that his company will comply with their requests by pointing users to their websites rather than reformatting their content in 'reading mode'.

"Zite’s goal is to work with publishers, not to be antagonistic. The few publishers that have contacted us regarding the reading mode view we have complied with their requests and simply switched over to web view. We’re talking to publishers right now to find a win-win for them monetarily and to at the same time preserve the great user experience."

Zite's app is similar to the much-hyped Flipboard, which has been signing deals with publishers to reformat their content for its application. News reader apps are becoming popular - among early adopters at least - but frustratingly it looks like arguments over copyright and monetisation may stymie their development.