Turning the tables on the Associated Press

[mdlbear]

So far I've not bothered posting about the Associated Press's ridiculous claim that a quoting even as few as half a dozen words from one of their articles is a copyright violation, and requires payment. But this one is simply too deliciously ironic to avoid.

Techdirt: AP Quotes Blogger In Discussing Bloggers Quoting AP; Hilarity Ensues

The ongoing ridiculous situation brewing between bloggers and the Associated Press has now taken a turn towards the enjoyably hilarious. We had already mentioned the fact that, despite the AP's complaints that bloggers quoting less than 100 words were violating fair use, the AP had a long history of quoting more than 100 words from bloggers -- and not even linking back to the original blog. Now, in a bit of ultimate irony, the AP's own article about this brouhaha quoted (without linking) twenty-two words from TechCrunch. That's 18 words more than the supposed four word "limit" the AP has suggested. With an ironic chance that wide, TechCrunch's Michael Arrington couldn't resist, and asked his lawyer to send a DMCA takedown notice to the Associated Press, along with a bill for $12.50 (directly off the AP's own pricing schedule). He admits that it's ridiculous, but that's what his actions are designed to present. By law, the AP should be required to takedown the content before filing a response -- though, since it's filing the response to itself, then perhaps it won't need to takedown the content. Either way, this helps illustrate the insanity of the entire situation.

See the original post for comments and links.

Comments

[selenesue.livejournal.com]

The news industry in-joke is "You can't spell "cheap" without AP."

I bet they delete the quote rather than pay the $12.50.

[technoshaman.livejournal.com]

I've got a real simple solution to this whole brew-ha-ha...

Don't quote AP. Period. I don't consider them a reliable source anyway; now I have a financial reason for avoiding them too.