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The Associated Press Board of Directors has approved a new online licensing structure to cover use of AP content on newspaper and local radio and television station member Web sites. Starting next year, all members who use AP content in their online operations will begin paying a license fee.
Previously, AP newspaper and local radio and TV station members had been allowed to repurpose for the Web the AP materials received for their print publications and on-air broadcasts at no additional charge. While ending this “free re-use” policy, AP intends to couple this paid online license with an annual assessment increase that is smaller than the yearly average for the past decade, said Burl Osborne, chairman of the AP board and publisher emeritus of the Dallas Morning News.
Currently, newspapers that pay to use AP content online generally are charged according to their print circulation, and local radio and TV station members according to market size. The method for determining the licensing fee has not yet been determined.
This strikes me as an oddly unprepared announcement and a strikingly ill-timed move toward fees that may be passed along to the audience (or not, who knows?) But if you wanted to raise people’s hackles, this is exactly how’d you’d announce this kind of policy: short on detail and full of potential downsides.]]>