Associated Press vs. Bloggers?

AP vs. Bloggers and Fair Use

According to the LA Times, "The 162-year-old news service will sit down with representatives of a bloggers group Thursday to devise guidelines allowing Internet commentators to use excerpts from AP stories and broadcasts." According to The New York Times, "The Associated Press, one of the nation’s largest news organizations, said that it will, for the first time, attempt to define clear standards as to how much of its articles and broadcasts bloggers and Web sites can excerpt without infringing on The A.P.’s copyright."

Reportedly the Associated Press was reacting to pressure from member traditional media outlets to stem what they saw as copyright infringement and unfair competition. Bloggers reacted negatively to what they saw as the news service trying to curb legally protected fair use of content. Techmeme's Gabe Rivera said, "it's actually pretty simple: AP wants 50 word quotes taken down. That demand is poisonous, and wrong."

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