The AP Targets Bloggers

Some bloggers are upset, others are mostly confused, that the is AP cracking down on blogs for quoting material. A sampling of reactions from all corners of the blogosphere. Michael Arrington:

Here’s our new policy on A.P. stories: they don’t exist. We don’t see them, we don’t quote them, we don’t link to them. They’re banned until they abandon this new strategy, and I encourage others to do the same until they back down from these ridiculous attempts to stop the spread of information around the Internet.

James Joyner:

While most of my blogging brethren are outraged at this and there is an organized effort to boycott AP content on blogs, I’m actually surprised that this action is so late in coming. I’ve worried for years that the lengthy excerpts I use on OTB could be ruled to exceed “fair use” but relied on the notion that I was adding enough commentary to create a transformative work. Practically speaking, however, few bloggers have the deep pockets to fight a massive organization like the AP in court.

The Glittering Eye:

The Associated Press, like most other publishers, fails to understand the essential nature of the Internet. Having your content published on the Internet isn’t like printing a book or a newspaper or even a radio or TV broadcast. It’s like printing the material on a million flyers which are posted in the town square. When you put it on the Internet you expect it to be seen, linked to, and, er, sampled.

Marc:

The biggest question I have about the Associated Press's new aggressiveness toward bloggers is: why now? Seems like the train left the station years ago.