Information product must be protected
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
One of the sometimes confusing aspects of newspaper content is the use of stories and photos from the Associated Press (the AP). People sometimes refer to that content as "wire" stories or photos, though there's no wire involved and content from other sources might well be categorized as "wire" copy as well.
The Associated Press is actually a "news cooperative," a collaborative organization of news entities who are members of the AP. Not only does the Associated Press have staff or freelance writers and photographers around the world, but the organization also provides a means for newspapers to share stories from their areas with other publications around the world.
The Enterprise, for example, was a primary source of both stories and photos when the shuttle Columbia fell apart in the skies over East Texas in February of 2003. Our newspaper has played a similar role in other stories of national interest, including Hurricanes Rita and Ike. We don't have reporters in Iraq or Afghanistan, but the Associated Press does, so we know we can still give readers those important national stories.
As a member of the Associated Press, we, like other publications, not only provide content to the AP, we also pay dues, fairly substantial dues, for rights to publish the stories they provide to us.
As the number of Web sites, blogs, and start-up niche publications continues to grow, the use of stories created by member newspapers or Associated Press staff members also has spread. The problem is most of those Web sites and blogs and other publications aren't AP members. They aren't paying dues. They use the stories.
The same thing sometimes happens with stories from The Enterprise. We'll find a Web site, sometimes even a nice, non-profit, public interest Web site, posting our stories. We'll, politely, ask them not to do that. We do allow posting of the first two sentences and a link to the story on our site, but don't allow posting of the entire story. The Associated Press will also make the same request.
People don't seem to realize such information is copyrighted and they need permission to republish it. Sometimes we deny that permission. In the case of Web sites, we always deny that permission. Stories and photos that appear in The Enterprise belong to The Enterprise. They are newspaper property just as the trees in front of our building or the mat on the floor inside our front door. Similarly, Associated Press stories and photos belong to the Associated Press. Some bloggers or Web Site administrators don't seem to realize that stealing that content is a crime, a pretty serious crime.
The Enterprise, in fact, within the last couple of years, started an investigation into a regional print publication that was using our content, as well as that of multiple other newspapers -- and the Associated Press. The publication's owner, who was selling advertising to support his product, was mystified as to why we objected to him letting us do all the work on the stories, while he collected the money. He ended up in court, where his lawyer explained the law to him and he quietly walked away from a problem of his own creation.
This has become such a problem that the Associated Press this past week announced it is adding software to each article showing limitations to rights of use and notifying AP how the article is used.
According to a New York Times article, Tom Curley, the Associated Press' president and chief executive, when asked, agreed that stance goes farther in upholding its rights than ever before.
The article quotes Curley as saying, "If someone can build multibillion-dollar businesses out of keywords, we can build multihundredmillion businesses out of headlines, and we're going to do that." His goal, he said, is not to have less use of the articles, but to be paid for any use.
It's a development worth watching, both for those of us in the newspaper community, and for consumers interested in getting complete and accurate news.
One of the sometimes confusing aspects of newspaper content is the use of stories and photos from the Associated Press (the AP). People sometimes refer to that content as "wire" stories or photos, though there's no wire involved and content from other sources might well be categorized as "wire" copy as well.
The Associated Press is actually a "news cooperative," a collaborative organization of news entities who are members of the AP. Not only does the Associated Press have staff or freelance writers and photographers around the world, but the organization also provides a means for newspapers to share stories from their areas with other publications around the world.
The Enterprise, for example, was a primary source of both stories and photos when the shuttle Columbia fell apart in the skies over East Texas in February of 2003. Our newspaper has played a similar role in other stories of national interest, including Hurricanes Rita and Ike. We don't have reporters in Iraq or Afghanistan, but the Associated Press does, so we know we can still give readers those important national stories.
As a member of the Associated Press, we, like other publications, not only provide content to the AP, we also pay dues, fairly substantial dues, for rights to publish the stories they provide to us.
As the number of Web sites, blogs, and start-up niche publications continues to grow, the use of stories created by member newspapers or Associated Press staff members also has spread. The problem is most of those Web sites and blogs and other publications aren't AP members. They aren't paying dues. They use the stories.
The same thing sometimes happens with stories from The Enterprise. We'll find a Web site, sometimes even a nice, non-profit, public interest Web site, posting our stories. We'll, politely, ask them not to do that. We do allow posting of the first two sentences and a link to the story on our site, but don't allow posting of the entire story. The Associated Press will also make the same request.
People don't seem to realize such information is copyrighted and they need permission to republish it. Sometimes we deny that permission. In the case of Web sites, we always deny that permission. Stories and photos that appear in The Enterprise belong to The Enterprise. They are newspaper property just as the trees in front of our building or the mat on the floor inside our front door. Similarly, Associated Press stories and photos belong to the Associated Press. Some bloggers or Web Site administrators don't seem to realize that stealing that content is a crime, a pretty serious crime.
The Enterprise, in fact, within the last couple of years, started an investigation into a regional print publication that was using our content, as well as that of multiple other newspapers -- and the Associated Press. The publication's owner, who was selling advertising to support his product, was mystified as to why we objected to him letting us do all the work on the stories, while he collected the money. He ended up in court, where his lawyer explained the law to him and he quietly walked away from a problem of his own creation.
This has become such a problem that the Associated Press this past week announced it is adding software to each article showing limitations to rights of use and notifying AP how the article is used.
According to a New York Times article, Tom Curley, the Associated Press' president and chief executive, when asked, agreed that stance goes farther in upholding its rights than ever before.
The article quotes Curley as saying, "If someone can build multibillion-dollar businesses out of keywords, we can build multihundredmillion businesses out of headlines, and we're going to do that." His goal, he said, is not to have less use of the articles, but to be paid for any use.
It's a development worth watching, both for those of us in the newspaper community, and for consumers interested in getting complete and accurate news.
posted by Sheila Friedeck at 11:38 AM
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