Associated Press Muscles in to Protect Its Content

Media giant Associated Press (AP) recently announced a ground-shaking decision to protect its content in all forms, including videos, pictures, and text. AP's move bears great implications on the activities of content aggregators, bloggers, and independent authors whose works are greatly supplanted by excerpts created by the media giant.

The legitimate use of small portions of another's content has been a common practice in the publication trade for decades under a broad interpretation of "fair use" laws.

A confidential source working as an independent author voiced strong opinions on AP's recent announcement:

"This causes me great concern and will definitely be an outrage to the many writers and publishers I know. Their livelihood depends on their ability to use and cite the works of others in order to help make their point."

"Rightly, it will give plagiarists solid reason to pause before they publish. However, this kind of control will severely cripple legitimate publishers in their use of content under the 'fair use' provision. It will quash what little creative room remains in the legitimate re-use of content for writers everywhere."

A New Revenue Stream

AP's decision sparks questions prompted in its recent controversial announcement. Foremost on many readers' minds is the question, Why is AP doing this?

According to reports issued across various news sources including the New York Times, AP makes this move due in part to lagging sales in traditional paper subscriptions as well as the decline in once-lucrative advertiser's revenues. As an effort to recover these losses, AP's President Tom Curley states that the news giant's strategy is not to have less use of the news articles, but to be paid by anyone using its content.

Contraversial Control

While content producers may argue the finer points of AP's overall agenda, exactly how the news organization will enforce control over its content is another point of contention.

In a press release issued on July 23, 2009, AP states they will be creating a software-supported content use and tracking system. The release states AP will "create a news registry that will tag and track all AP content online...and employ a built-in beacon [say: implanted software] to notify AP about how the content is used."

Spyware?

In his July 24, 2009, article PC World writer Ian Paul asks whether this control is merely a euphemized form of "spyware". Paul's implied sentiment reflects the ongoing battle raging between the internet's millions of individual users and the maleficent spyware-spewing websites they visit. Spyware has developed

Because hundreds of millions of dollars have been spent in the development and subsequent purchase of anti-spyware software, AP will certainly face deep-rooted opposition in its planned use of internet-deployed software. As if this wasn't enough, Associated Press wants the 1,400 American newspapers that own it to join the effort and use its software also.

Mixed Messages

To make matters worse, Associated Press seems to broadcast mixed messages.

While AP President Tom Curley's statement portends an iron-fisted control of any content use no matter how great or small, an apparently contradictory message comes from AP's Senior VP for Global Product Development, Jean Seagrave. Recently Seagrave told InformationWeek that AP will not be going after bloggers, but sites that engage in "large-scale copying of AP content."

This seemingly conflicting statement is a point of frustration to legitimate internet content providers worldwide. These include bloggers, journalists, writers, and the creators of other forms of original content. Questions arise as to what exactly constitutes "large-scale copying", how to interpret any copying under the fair use laws, and how violations will be dealt with.

For the time being these and many other questions simmer without answers.

References:

http://tinyurl.com/nzj6zy

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/7db03bd0-77d7-11de-9713-00144feabdc0.html

http://www.pcworld.com/article/168991/murky_waters_the_aps_new_content_protection_plan.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/24/business/media/24content.html?_r=1

http://www.ap.org/pages/about/pressreleases/pr_072309a.html

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Jack Melendez is a freelance writer reporting on technology, the environment, alternative energies and "green" issues. Jack Melendez is a writer for hire. To email him, CLICK HERE.