Unfair competition is a complex problem affecting all areas of American business, including the communications media. Piracy of material, an alarmingly widespread example of unfair competition, involves legal as well as ethical questions. This monograph uses the historical approach to trace the development of common-law precedent and trends and then summarizes, analyzes, and evaluates current legal cases involving unfair competition. The monograph concludes that news piracy has been construed to be punished within the legal precedents and interpretation that involve unfair competition. (Author/RL)