-By Warner Todd Huston
The Chairman of the Associated Press had some sharp words for those darned ol’ Internet interlopers out there. He said he’s “mad as hell” over those who “walk off with our work.” Though Chairman Dean Singleton didn’t exactly specify who he was talking about, according to Politico, the wire agency has been targeting Google, Bloggers and news aggregator sites such as Huffington Post of late.
So, what does it mean? How far will the AP go to protect its work? Are there court cases soon to be seen?
Singleton signaled that the AP is ready to go further to prove that the world’s oldest news organization won’t be put out to pasture by the new media. But Seagrave stressed that while there is an enforcement aspect to the AP’s new initiative, it’s really “more affirmative than punitive.”
And, once again, we come down to questions of what “fair use” means. Is it on solid legal footing? Many say it isn’t.
“In copyright law,” said another attorney who’s represented top media companies, “fair use is one of the major fuzzy lines.”
Now, here is the thing. If we here link a story and then deconstruct it for our readers, if we critique it, doesn’t it almost always lead to the readers here clicking over to the original source so that a comparison can be made between our interpretation and the original? In this case, the original source is still getting credit for the story AND getting traffic to see it. Isn’t it the best of all worlds? Aren’t they losing nothing and actually gaining eyes to their story that otherwise would never blink once at their content?
Seems to me that in the case of bloggers and news aggregators, they are getting free advertising for their work. Now, I can understand that a full copy of a story without linking to the original source would be a violation of use. But bloggers and news aggregators would seem to me to be a boon to the struggling news industry.
In any case, this story is one we should all watch closely because it really could affect us. The AP may not be expected to go after small bloggers, but it surely could go after big sites like NewsBusters.org!
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Warner Todd Huston is a Chicago based freelance writer, has been writing opinion editorials and social criticism since early 2001 and is featured on many websites such as newsbusters.org, RedState.com, Human Events Magazine, AmericanDailyReview.com, townhall.com, New Media Journal, Men’s News Daily and the New Media Alliance among many, many others. Additionally, he has been a frequent guest on talk-radio programs to discuss his opinion editorials and current events and is currently the co-host of “Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Conservatism” heard on BlogTalkRadio. He has also written for several history magazines and appears in the new book “Americans on Politics, Policy and Pop Culture” which can be purchased on amazon.com. He is also the owner and operator of publiusforum.com. Feel free to contact him with any comments or questions : EMAIL Warner Todd Huston
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Seems to me if someone does take their stinky stories and spiffs ’em up a bit that should make them happy. And you are right about people clicking links to the original. I did it in this instance.
While there I found this line you left out of the story.
“Already, the AP has challenged bloggers and remains embroiled in a lawsuit against artist Shepard Fairey for allegedly basing his iconic “Hope” image of Barack Obama on an AP photograph.”
AP is off their rocker on that one against Fairey. The whole world knows it was based on an old, ‘no longer protected by copyright’ picture of Lenin.
LOL. Well, at least Lenin’s spirit!