The Associated Press, Fair Use, TechCrunch, and Common Sense

That didn't take long. I had a post about The Associated Press' odd interpretation of 'fair use' earlier this week ("The Associated Press, Bloggers, Fair Use, and Common Sense" (June 17, 2008)).

I ran into this today:

"AP Violates Own Copyright Law By Quoting 22 Words from TechCrunch"
NowPublic (June 19, 2008)

"Well, this was bound to happen sooner or later. After The Associated Press issued its preposterous decision to charge for 5 word quotations of its stories, the blogosphere was quick to react.

"Now, the tables have been turned on The Associated Press, as internet news superblog TechCrunch (who have called on fellow bloggers to ban all AP content), is 'demanding justice' after the AP quoted a hefty 22 words from one of its posts...."

I think there's a good chance that the AP's goofy demands came from some top executive who:

• Is a few years older than I am
• Who has had his secretary answer his phone and do his typing for the last twenty years or so
• Who has heard of the Internet but never actually used it

As I wrote earlier: "No matter what The Associated Press decides, I'm not too concerned. There are many other news services out there, and I'm pretty sure that most are sharp enough to allow bloggers to send traffic their way."