It appears the era of free flowing information on the Web is tapering off. The Associated Press announced last Monday that they will begin to track how their content is used in an effort to start receiving revenue share where their content is being repurposed and monies are collected. If the A.P. and the media outlet can’t come to some agreement, the Associated Press will threaten legal action.
I’m genuinely surprised it’s taken this long. As the Web has evolved, the legal ramifications that trail behind are establishing new precedents and case law. It’s been a bit of a free for all, but it looks like the good times are coming to an end.
To solve this pesky content ownership problem, the A.P. said it would build its own searchable landing page where links from member media outfits would aggregate tidily under the A.P. name.
There are thousands of news related websites that repurpose content and serve up (usually Google) ads alongside that day’s featured stories. Suddenly that smug feeling of having your business model dialed in and being profitable doesn’t seem so safe and secure. Although the A.P.’s announcement didn’t name names, the biggest culprit is a little website called Google News; Google relies heavily on the A.P.’s member newspapers for content.
It appears newspapers are getting a touch desperate. As David Carr succinctly put it:
The current recession combined with a structural shift in ad spending and consumer habits have left the newspaper industry in a box canyon. Many believe they have no choice but to shoot their way out, even if it means taking on Google and the hundreds of millions of eyeballs it represents.
Eric Schmidt, Google CEO, made it clear that he doesn’t want to pay to distribute content to users, but Google could make it easier for newspapers to charge end users for their content. In a recent press conference after the Newspaper Association of America meeting in San Diego last week, Schmidt diplomatically stated:
Anything that makes it easier for your content to get to your users is a win.
As a new story emerges each week about a newspaper losing money or on the verge of closing down, the need to evolve with the times has reached a pivotal ‘change or die’ point.
Good post. I don’t see how the AP are going to police it. An army of lawyers can’t put the toothpaste back in the tube. Was hard enough for the music industry to try with music files, let alone when it’s just text.