Bloggers And AP Face Off Over Excerpts

New York, NY (AHN) - A range war of sorts has erupted between bloggers and the AP after the news service announced Internet sites must pay to print excerpts of news stories as short as five words long. In response, bloggers castigated the AP and forced a meeting with the Media Bloggers Association set for Thursday.

The uproar began after the AP demanded Rogers Cadenhead take down several stories posted on his Drudge Retort blog. The stories included excerpts of AP articles ranging between 33 to 79 words which led into online discussions and links back to the original AP news items.

When Cadenhead contacted the Media Bloggers Association, a group that assists bloggers with legal assistance, the AP announced it would meet with the MBA to work out a "fair use" policy agreeable to both parties.

However, Wednesday officials of the MBA spoke out about a number of misconceptions about their involvement in the dispute, including reports that the organization and the AP would sit down for some sort of all-encompassing blogging pow-wow.

"The MBA is not a 'self-appointed' group seeking to 'represent' the blogosphere. We were approached by a specific blogger to help him resolve a legal threat without needing to go to court," Robert Cox, president of Media Bloggers Association, wrote online.

Cox told the Knoxville News Sentinal that Cadenhead's blog had "clear violations of AP copyright."