Intellectual Property Law

I Hope Ann Has Her Checkbook Out

By Siva Vaidhyanathan

Now the Associated Press has apparently made an convenient online form with a cut-and-paste window, so bloggers can shell out the right amount. Although they get "discounted" rates, educational blogs are also expected to pay the piper. Me, I am planning to do a lot of fabulous four-word pieces on AP stories. Look for revealing passages like "former presidential spokesman Scott" and "the House Friday easily." More than four-word strings are what the algorithms of many plagiarism-detection software packages look for as well.

So, what about if you are quoting text that AP is itself quoting from a public domain source, such as a website or the AP President giving a speech at the National Press Club? Do they expect that to count in your word count? If Siva quotes himself being quoted in an AP article, does he have to pony up?

See Ann's posting for more about why this is a totally ridiculous idea.

Full post as published by SIVACRACY .NET on June 20, 2008 (boomark / email).