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The Associated Press and Intellectual Property Protection
The Associated Press is a not-for-profit news cooperative
that spends hundreds of millions of dollars every year gathering
and sharing news of public interest from around the world.
Licensing of this content by our members is critical to support
our news operations. In the new digital content economy,
however, a significant amount of AP news and news from AP
members is used without permission or fair compensation.
This situation has serious consequences: it dilutes the value
of news for licensors and advertisers; it fragments and disperses
content so widely that consumers end up relying on fragmented
coverage to get their news despite the availability of comprehensive
and authoritative coverage on a 24-hour basis.
Recently, The Associated Press Board of Directors directed
The Associated Press to create a news registry that will
tag and track all AP content online to assure compliance
with terms of use. The system will register key identifying
information about each piece of content that AP distributes
as well as the terms of use of that content, and employ a
built-in tracking device to notify AP about how the content
is used.
1.Why build a News
Registry?
2. What will
the News Registry do?
3. How does the news
registry differ from what AP announced at its annual
meeting in April?
4. How would the News
Registry work?
5. How does
the AP news registry differ from other similar efforts
across the industry?
6. Why build a News
Registry? Why not just put up a pay wall system?
7. What members or
other content providers/owners will participate in
the News Registry?
8. How will the News
Registry support members’ revenue objectives?
9. Can AP build and
support the News Registry?
10. Once the Registry is up and running, how will AP handle enforcement?
11. Is this aimed at Google? At
bloggers?
12. Will participation in the News Registry mean a uniform set of fair use guidelines that give bloggers clear instructions on what is allowed and what is not?
13. How will micro-tagging of content improve publisher interaction with social networks and social booking marking services?
14. How can we be assured that we're not cutting off access from aggregators and bloggers who would be helping drive traffic to our sites?
15. Will this cost members to participate?
1. Why build
a News Registry?
Original news content such as that produced by The Associated
Press and its members increasingly is being used across the
Web without appropriate permission or compensation, and the
problem is rapidly spreading to other digital applications.
The News Registry is a fundamental and powerful means to protect
valuable and costly news content to assure that news organizations
like AP can continue to support original journalism. AP, for
example, spends hundreds of millions of dollars every year gathering
and reporting the news, from bureaus in 243 locations around
the world.
The news media perform a critical function in society, protecting
the public’s right to know by enforcing freedom of information
laws, sending reporters to cover conflicts and wars, and reporting
on everything from natural disasters, government agencies and
more. Original journalism has significant costs -- both
financial and human. Safeguarding investments to gather and
share news is critical to a democratic society.
2. What will
the News Registry do?
The News Registry authorized by the AP Board
of Directors will create a system that registers key identifying
information about every piece of content AP distributes as
well as the terms of use for that content, and employs a built-in
tracking device to notify AP about how that content is used
online. The Registry will enable third parties and customers
to find and use content through new digital platforms, devices
and services, while assuring AP that its content will be protected
against unauthorized use.
3. How does the
News Registry differ from what AP announced at its annual meeting
in April?
In April, the Associated Press Board of Directors announced that AP would lead an initiative to protect the industry’s content against unauthorized use. The News Registry is a foundational piece of that initiative.
4. How would
the News Registry work?
The initial focus of the News Registry will be to encapsulate all AP content in an informational “wrapper.” The content within the wrapper – an open source microformat that AP developed – would be tagged with critical information about the story, such as who wrote it, the headline and the usage rights associated with it. In addition, a tracking device will be contained in the wrapper that follows usage of the content.
5. How does the
AP News Registry differ from other similar efforts across the
industry?
From the outset, the Registry is being designed with a built-in rights framework that will provide AP and other content owners with tools that allow news organizations to grant and monitor specific usage rights associated with each piece of content. Accordingly, it is complementary to other industry efforts, some of which are directed at protecting content on the Internet, others of which are directed to user interaction and/or other monetization opportunities.
6.
Why build a News Registry? Why not just put up
a pay wall system?
A pay wall system has certain advantages. However,
a pay wall doesn’t enable publishers to pursue strategies
for broader digital distribution. Moreover, many
publishers would like to distribute their content on open
platforms, provided they can easily set and monitor how
their content is used.
Because a News Registry gives publishers the means to track and protect all content, it can serve both models, by enabling opportunities both outside of and behind pay wall environments. Indeed, a Registry could enable a multitude of business opportunities and services, from supplying usage metrics, to enabling a range of models for paid content. In fact, it would provide a range of options and flexibility that should make different pay models more effective than a single exclusive option.
7. What
members or other content providers/owners will participate
in the News Registry?
Initially, the Registry will cover all AP text
content. Starting early next year, it will expand to accept
text content from interested AP members and possibly other
participants. It also will extend to cover photos and video
in a phased manner.
8. How will
the News Registry support members’ revenue objectives?
The Registry will give publishers greater control
of their content and more precise metrics on which to base
business decisions. It will support a range of new business
models and payment systems, including new advertising models
and content pay walls. Ultimately, the Registry will allow
the delivery of content that is more meaningful to the end
user through a variety of digital platforms and devices.
9. Can AP
build and support the News Registry?
AP has a long and successful legacy of technological
and industry innovation, from the use of the telegraph to speed
distribution of news to the invention of PhotoStream, the all-digital
photo network that allowed photographs to be delivered in seconds.
In recent years, AP has been an industry leader in the field
of content enrichment, which serves as a foundation for Web
applications and opportunities. AP has also demonstrated expertise
and competence in collecting, managing and distributing content,
including e-commerce, such as with the new AP Images platform.
In building the Registry, AP will look to leverage in-house
capabilities efficiently, but also tap external competencies
for maximum effectiveness.
10. Once the Registry is up and running, how will AP handle enforcement?
AP will continue to handle enforcement in the methodical, deliberate way it always has, looking carefully at each situation. A number of members have asked about whether AP is in position to coordinate efforts in certain situations. We continue to evaluate this interest.
11. Is
this aimed at Google? At bloggers?
The creation of a Registry is not aimed at any company or Web
site. It is intended to give news organizations, which fund
important newsgathering, tools to address the opportunities
and the challenges brought forth by constantly-evolving digital
platforms and devices
12. Will participation in the News Registry mean a uniform set of fair use guidelines that givebloggers clear instructions on what is allowed and what is not?
AP is not trying to define fair use or go after individual uses such as short quotes of an article cited in an email or on a blog posting. Our focus and concern is wide-scale commercial use of news taken from publisher sites.
13. How will micro-tagging of content improve publisher interaction with social networks and social booking marking services?
We want people clicking through to the right place. Publishers will be able to use the Registry’s tools to set “public access” conditions that communicate – in machine-readable form – with automated aggregation systems. Social network users will be able to find, comment on and share a link to the stories that interest them and move traffic to the places where content is being created
14. How can we be assured that we're not cutting off access from aggregators and bloggers who would be helping drive traffic to our sites?
Search engines, portals and social networks either refer traffic to themselves or disperse it widely. By participating in the Registry, you can help create an online environment where consumers can easily locate authoritative, legitimate news sources, and where content aggregation is a way to drive traffic to the originators of content, not third parties.
15. Will this cost members to participate?
AP will fund development and operation of the Registry through 2010.
Updated: October 13, 2009
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