As far as I can tell, the Associated Press is sticking by its ridiculous and unlawful assertion that “direct quotations, even short ones” are copyright infringements and result in lawsuit threats and DMCA takedown notices.
This story led us to ban the A.P., call the New York Times out on undisclosed conflicts of interest and begin to investigate some ridiculous organization called the Media Bloggers Association before getting bored and wandering off to other topics.
But now the A.P. has gone too far. They’ve quoted twenty-two words from one of our posts, in clear violation of their warped interpretation of copyright law. The offending quote, from this post, is here (I’m suspending my A.P. ban to report on this important story).
Am I being ridiculous? Absolutely. But the point is to illustrate that the A.P. is taking an absurd and indefensible position, too. So I’ve called my lawyers (really) and have asked them to deliver a DMCA takedown demand to the A.P. And I will also be sending them a bill for $12.50 with that letter, which is exactly what the A.P. would have charged me if I published a 22 word quote from one of their articles.
Next time, A.P., ask permission before you quote me. I work hard to create content, and it just isn’t appropriate for you to simply cut and paste it into your own product and then sell that to others.
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Really is pathetic Mike.
Their double standards, and ability to stand by them is outstanding, insulting, rude, and just distasteful.
Let us know what happens.
Great work Mike!
Glad to see someone sticking it to them.
You da man Michael, go get those dinosaurs !
I don’t think you are being fair. TechCrunch has so much higher quality content than AP. You should charge a little more - perhaps $12.50M?
you write “As far as I can tell…” and then… damn. I think I owe you 9.23. Think twice David, think twice.
Mike, you’re probably going to catch some negative comments for continuing to poke at this Bee’s nest, but I’d encourage you to just ignore it.
The AP is so completely & utterly WRONG on this issue, that I find their whole position somewhat baffling.
Nice work catching them in their inability to follow their own rules.
Mike should just sue them. He is a lawyer so he can B.S. w/o spending the money. And it’ll probably get picked up and will give Techcrunch a ton of coverage
Hmm. I think it all evens out. You posted a quote of them posting a quote of you.
Just another old media company trying to run their business as if the Internet doesn’t exist. It’s amazing these companies are able to stay in business if lame ideas like this are the best they can come up with in the New Media age.
HAHAHHAHAHAH
Awesome Mich.
Do screen shots count as copyright infringement? If not, then that will be my new way of quoting AP articles. >:-D
Michael, please, drop it. This is stupid. The AP is wrong, we get it. TechCrunch is less and less about technology every day and more and more about you being preachy to the readers. I feel like I’m being forced into your incredibly narrow thinking on every topic every time I read one of your posts.
Gotta love our old pals in the Associated Plagiarists
J - I want my $12.50. Then I’ll drop it.
HAHAHAH! That is absolutely hillarious Mike.
It is ironic for the AP to attempt such strict enforcement of copyrights against blogs given that traditional news media have themselves become so dependent upon blogs as news sources.
Actually, very short quotes tend to be less protected under copyright law (at least in the U.S.), so the AP may be on shaky ground here. A stronger argument in favor of the AP is that copying hot news is protect against under the law. Yet the AP seems to give license to such copying of hot news by allowing its news to be paraphrased. As Arrington suggested, the line drawn in the sand by the AP regarding quotes may come back to haunt it.
Mike from president? I’m sure as hell not voting for Obama or McCain…
LOL.
Articles like these make me proud to work for TechCrunch.
for… http://www.arringtonsmyprez.com
Awesome. Keep us posted on their jackassery.
And it is refreshing to have a newsfeed that injects a little bit of “personal opinion”…I’ve got no problem with that, you think that NBC, FOX, etc don’t?? LOL Please - at least you can call Arrington a loser if you don’t like what he has to say, and most likely he’ll post right back…I mean what other “news source” can you say does that?
I don’t always agree with Mike - but I appreciate him being passionate about what he’s passionate about…and allowing me to draw my own conclusions, and within’ reason - call him a doo-doo head if I disagree.
However, I’ve yet to disagree with much of anything he’s said - especially this AP nonsense!
I love it! TechCrunch is going to the mattresses! I am looking forward to seeing how this fight unfolds.
This seems to give credence to the AP position. If the AP send you $12.50 then you have seemingly bought into their new policy.
This is not a brilliant maneuver. This is sarcastic (and possibly weakens your position).
LAME.
Jackson - yeah, i don’t usually think that far ahead.
God bless you, Mike Arrington!
well done. MA.
Good work, they deserve what is coming, and I think it is going to be a lot more…
Well I think the old press is just on the verge of being supplanted by the blogosphere. I find more info that is not AP than is. As others have noted much of their material is originated elsewhere. I regularly am quoted by local media but have yet to have them link to me. I’m still a bit too small.. But it is representative of the big media to attempt to continue to marginalize the blogs even though they are regularly ‘clipping” our work without attribution.
I think you are just pulling peoples chains on the MBA now Mike. It is pretty apparent they are just trying to help out Rogers Cadenhead from Drudge Retort at his request. Not speak for the entire blogosphere.
The AP the NYT and now you seem to have mis-represented their intent.
We are interviewing your buddy Bob Cox on BlogWorld radio tomorrow to ask him his side of the story. Please call in and fire away with questions.
http://snurl.com/2l7vi
@12, come on now, these types of articles are what make TC stand out from the crowd. Personally I think it’s hilarious, but it’s also an important point and does show how frigging ridiculous the AP is being about this nonsense.
Good luck getting your $12.50 Michael!
Does AP stand for Associated Press or Asinine Pricks?
Rick - did I misrepresent the NYTimes’ partial ownership of the A.P., or their board seat?
You just quoted them
5 lines… OMG!! sky is falling….OMG!
Brilliant.
I just like the fact that you got bored and moved on to other topics, and wrote about it! The only thing better would be if you told them you stopped writing about them because Dr. Phil was on and you couldn’t be disrupted!
Thanks for fighting the good fight!
Fight ‘em Mike.
Maybe to gain some momentum (and media coverage) you should start an organization that is equally as bogus as the Media Bloggers Association. Maybe the “Protecting Dead Business Models Workgroup?”
Classic.
Hey Mike,
I was about to say what Jackson said. You’re actually helping support their absurd position. Plus, TechCrunch should operate at a much higher standard than the AP. For example, the AP doesn’t link to the original bloggers who discover stories; you do.
The AP may be unethical, but you can show the journalists how to live up to blogger standards through example…
Reminds me of the movement to use eminent domain to acquire Justice Steve Briar’s house to build the “Lost Liberty Hotel” after the ridiculous eminent domain supreme court decision a few years ago.
Awesome.
Ok. Very funny, going nuclear, on AP, who went Nuclear on Rogers Cadenhead (going nuclear = sending a C&D for quotes without negotiation first).
Brilliant ! please make sure to update on this story, if they pull it or, give you money, or whatever. Realistically the comedy of the situation outdoes the reality of what rick said in giving into there position. So f’ em… I WANT MY $12.50
Soooo awesome! Go Mike, go!
“I work hard to create content, and it just isn’t appropriate for you to simply cut and paste it into your own product and then sell that to others.”
LMAO. Are you serious? You work *hard* to create content? And even after that, the best you come up with is quoting Kara Swisher who gets the news before you do?
Oh wait, do I have to pay you a gazillion jacka$$ dollars now for quoting your quote in your own blog?
ps - How many times are you going to delete this comment? Do you just delete ones that don’t agree with your point of view?
Now…if the AP reports on this story and quotes you, and you then report on their story and quote them…
Oh man.
That could probably spiral out of control and end the universe.
I am sure the resulting press that comes from picking a fight with the AP has nothing to do with your cause.
Mike, in quoting their quote, you have quoted them and so are guilty of the same thing and they can call their lawyer.
Go get them, I hope AP will change after this.
… and in other news… 4 soldiers were killed in Iraq today…
There may be an opportunity for a class action lawsuit. I’ve been quoted by the AP on at least one occasion and have not been compensated for the original content (5-25 words) they “stole” from me when they printed the quote.
Go Mike, go.
Lets see….I quoted from AP and cited them. Dang, I owe them….
Nothing, the law is on my side period.