It is especially ironic that a NEWS organization would claim that facts are protected by copyright, and one needs someone's permission to report factual claims. Such a legal theory is rather inimical to the business of news.
No - the copyright in the Snow Fall article indeed protects him from _copying_ the Snow Fall article (unless it is fair use). Yes, he may have violated copyright by doing so.
The copyright in the Snow Fall article does not give anyone the rights to prevent someone from saying "The NYT spent hundreds of hours hand-coding 'Snow Fall'. We made a replica in an hour." That quote from their letter is the part I was referring to.
