From the Managing Editor

By Henry Muller

TIME HAS BEEN SUCH AN ICON IN AMERICAN LIFE SINCE Its founding in 1923 that the magazine's cover frequently finds its way into other media. In the 1950 film A Woman of Distinction, for example, actress Rosalind Russell appears on a make-believe Time cover. More recently, Jack Nicholson and Kim Basinger could be seen in Batman perusing a Time cover.

Under copyright law, we own the rights to our covers. It is possible for those who do not own copyrighted materials to make "fair use" of them, but generally those who employ Time covers must first obtain our permission. As a rule, we do not allow our covers to be used to advertise or endorse products or services. We also do not grant permission to political campaigns to use the cover of Time to support the position or candidacy of any individual.

Thus when the Bush-Quayle campaign used a Time cover last week as the centerpiece of a commercial attacking Bill Clinton, we asked Robert Teeter, chairman of Bush-Quayle '92, to withdraw it. "The implicit suggestion of the commercial that Time endorses its contents is extremely damaging to Time's reputation," we wrote. The cover in question, which appeared on our April 20 issue, was an examination of the problems Clinton was having during the primaries with voters who did not trust him -- but it did not endorse President Bush, nor did it conclude that Governor Clinton was untrustworthy. In fact, we have at various times been critical of all three candidates, and over the past two years we have produced a number of cover images that any political campaign could exploit to discredit the others. When the Bush-Quayle campaign refused to withdraw the commercial, we filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. The case will be heard this week.

Time's mission is to serve its readers by delivering incisive analysis of national and international issues, even if that means being tough on those who hold or seek political office. But Time is neither ideological nor partisan, and it does not endorse candidates for office. We intend to keep it that way.