Dow Jones sues Dayton accounting firm Bradstreet & Co. over Wall Street Journal articles republished as Tax Tips

What was filed

The complaint is Document 1 in No. 3:26-cv-00385, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio, Western Division at Dayton, filed October 20, 2026. It runs 43 pages. The plaintiff, Dow Jones & Company, Inc., publisher of The Wall Street Journal, is a Delaware corporation based in New York. The defendants are Bradstreet & Company, Inc., an Ohio accounting firm based in Dayton, and Mark Bradstreet, its founder and owner. Counsel is Faruki PLL. Jurisdiction is pleaded under 28 U.S.C. 1331 and 1338(a), and venue under 28 U.S.C. 1391 and 1400(a). Dow Jones demands a jury.

What the complaint alleges

It alleges that between at least May 2019 and March 2026 the defendants reproduced about 79 Dow Jones articles in full, without a license, on the firm's website, X, Facebook, and LinkedIn accounts, an email list of about 10,000 contacts, and a MailChimp archive, and that Exhibit B is a non-exhaustive list of them. It gives four examples: "The Hardest Part About Being a Billionaire in California: Proving You Left" (January 24, 2026), "An Underused Tax-Free Investment Account Amps Up in the New Year" (December 22, 2025), "The Medicare Charge That's Taking a Bigger Bite Out of Social Security Checks" (January 23, 2026), and "High Earners Age 50 and Older Are About to Lose a Major 401(k) Tax Break" (September 25, 2025).

It alleges the reproductions ran in a "Tax Tip of the Week" series beside offers for tax planning meetings, QuickBooks training, and webinars, with the founder or occasionally another employee named as "This Week's Author," and, on information and belief, that the defendants replaced the original photographs with other images. It alleges the founder obtained at least two WSJ.com subscriptions with a firm email address under terms barring redistribution and, on information and belief, used his subscription to access and copy the articles, that Dow Jones registered each work before or within three months of the infringement, that it found the copying in February 2026 and sent a cease-and-desist letter on February 24, 2026, and that some reproductions remain online.

Counts and relief

Count I is copyright infringement under 17 U.S.C. 501 against both defendants. Counts II and III plead contributory and vicarious infringement against the founder in the alternative. Dow Jones seeks preliminary and permanent injunctions, actual damages and profits under 17 U.S.C. 504(b) or, at its election, statutory damages under 17 U.S.C. 504(c), and fees and costs under 17 U.S.C. 505.

What to watch next

Watch for the defendants' answer or motion to dismiss and any motion for a preliminary injunction.