Paula G. Web Design

People often ask me if they can quote other content and bloggers online using small snippets and a link back to the source as a modern day footnote if you will. This is certainly acceptable practice under the fair use exception to copyright law, unless of course the source you’re citing is the AP.

TechCrunch shared the madness of AP’s stance in their post “Here’s Our New Policy on AP stories: They’re banned” :

They do not want people quoting their stories, despite the fact that such activity very clearly falls within the fair use exception to copyright law. They claim that the activity is an infringement.

A.P. vice president Jim Kennedy says they will issue guidelines telling bloggers what is acceptable and what isn’t, over and above what the law says is acceptable. They will “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.”

Those that disregard the guidelines risk being sued by the A.P., despite the fact that such use may fall under the concept of fair use.

The A.P. doesn’t get to make it’s own rules around how its content is used, if those rules are stricter than the law allows. So even thought they say they are making these new guidelines in the spirit of cooperation, it’s clear that, like the RIAA and MPAA, they are trying to claw their way to a set of property rights that don’t exist today and that they are not legally entitled to. And like the RIAA and MPAA, this is done to protect a dying business model - paid content.

It makes no sense to me that an organization whose purpose is to disseminate information wants to limit its distribution. I certainly understand paid content is the business model they employ, but a few sentences quoted with attribution and link back? I smell frustration and desperation…but most certainly will steer clear of them when it comes to content sourcing.

So the moral to the story is… link away and share the wealth when it comes to information on the web; except if you see the source is AP. Then, you can just scratch your head, wonder about the old school mentality, and move on.

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