Associated Press Go After Bloggers

Posted: June 19th, 2008 | Author: Ben | Filed under: Uncategorized |

Recently the Associated Press has gone after bloggers quoting its articles. Although to most bloggers it may look as if the AP has created this condition just to make life difficult, it was mentioned in the BOL podcast (#746) that this is a rule they’ve had for a long time; it’s just that they’ve now decided to apply it to bloggers.

I found this price breakdown for AP quotes on Techdirt’s article about the issue:

• 5-25 words: $ 12.50
• 26-50 words: $ 17.50
• 51-100 words: $ 25.00
• 101-250 words: $ 50.00
• 251 words and up: $ 100.00

So essentially I can quote four words from an AP article for free. I found an AP article about the issue that said, “The Associated Press, following…”

In all seriousness,  when it comes to copyright on the Internet the big players historically haven’t come off so well. Although at the same time I can see AP’s point. Their entire business model is syndicating their content to publishers, when publishers (in this case bloggers) use that content without paying the AP lose revenue.

Although a distinction should be made from fairly quoting and referencing content from plagiarism. I can’t see any harm in quoting, referencing and linking to an excellent resource that is relevant to a blog post I’m writing if it supports an argument I’m making. If, when bloggers look to quote an they then need to ensure that the copy was not written by an AP journalist, then I think the AP lose out more than anybody else.

Although some have put a positive spin on the issue. The AP are clearly considering their options. It would appear as if they’re thinking out loud (very loud) as to what the best policy is with regard to blogging. Essentially the way they intend to move forward with their relationship with bloggers seems undecided, yet the last few days could easily be seen as a bit of a rocky patch.

This article from CNET gives a good summary of what’s happening.

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