The venerable AP has adopted a new system of “quote licensing” that kicks in at only FIVE words. For $12.50, you get to directly quote, word-for-word, an AP story in an online forum or blog (like this one)– as long as you don’t go over 26 words. The next tier of pricing is for 26-50 words, at $17.50. And the AP declares they get to decide when use of their material falls under fair use. And they reserve the right to terminate any licensing agreement that results in “obscene” content or material that is unflattering to the AP.
The real targets of the Associated Press are the online blogs that quote entire stories wholesale from wire stories. It’s sad that the AP couldn’t just let “link karma” defend its original work online. There’s a certain paranoia in news organizations far and wide that everyone else online seems to be making money except for those organizations that run a debt actually gathering the news. It’s no surprise that The New York Times has come to defend the AP’s policies in the face of bloggers.
Read these stories for more:
Boing Boing (good comments on this one)
TechCrunch (on the NYT response)