The Associated Press has issued a legal threat to left-leaning news and commentary site The Drudge Retort on Thursday, claiming copyright infringement in a series of articles. One example of infringement provided by site operator Rogers Cadenhead consisted of a 57-word citation, taken from a 442-word article—A small fraction of the entire article, and certainly not any more than is necessary to pique the reader's interest in clicking over to the main AP article. I ran into similar problems with the AP way back in March, so I can definitely empathize with Cadenhead's situation.
I do find it interesting, however, to see that a certain and unnamed large newspaper has taken immediate interest in the Drudge Retort's case.
That's funny—I don't recall the New York Times taking much of an interest in my predicament, even though, by many accounts, it was a case which would've covered almost completely new ground in copyright and "fair use" law. Could it be that the Times thought that my blog was far too insignificant to even consider covering?
Of course. I'm not exactly a "powerhouse" of political opinion.
Given that the Times openly fawned over the launching of the cybersquatting Drudge Retort, I suspect that there might be a somewhat different explanation for this disparity.
Far be it from me, though, to suggest that the Times is very selective about which blogs it choses to cover. I'll leave that up to you, the reader.
For more background on this story, please see Snapped Shot.
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For the life of me, I can't
June 16, 2008 - 15:22 ET by Chris NormanFor the life of me, I can't figure out why The Drudge Report would need a left-wing response. From my frequent visits, The Drudge Report has as many items embarrassing to Republicans as Democrats - maybe more - and they are just as hyped. Drudge may be conservative, but I couldn't tell that by his web site's content or tone.
Yeah, but you see it
June 16, 2008 - 17:44 ET by mattmYeah, but you see it includes conservative viewpoints on an equal footing with liberals, so that means it's a far-right propaganda site.
Only when it's pure, 100%, pasteurized and homogenized Leftism, and when the only portrayal of conservatives or conservatism is negative, is it considered to be a legitimate news source.
matt... Yep, at least
June 16, 2008 - 17:46 ET by Clear thinkermatt...
Yep, at least that's according to that wonderful open source of info known as WIKI and the NYT.
.
"Abstain from McCain"
Yeah, since Drudge is a
June 16, 2008 - 18:19 ET by Chris NormanYeah, because he's a conservative, Drudge gets no points, even when he splashes negative news for Republicans across the page in a breathless tabloid style.
Koolaide
June 16, 2008 - 15:47 ET by ScrapironDrudge has taken a long hard drink of the liberal Koolaide, so you can expect more and more bias as the election season wears on.
Old, Retired and glad of it.
guys... it's the Drudge
June 16, 2008 - 15:54 ET by NetizenCainguys... it's the Drudge RETORT, not REPORT that the article is discussing. Different website.
If by "guys", you include
June 16, 2008 - 16:28 ET by Chris NormanIf by "guys", you include me, I already know that. I'm addressing the fact that someone feels that the Drudge Report needs a liberal response.
It's All About Website Hits
June 16, 2008 - 21:15 ET by geoff.galeThe Drudge Retort is just trying to capitalise on those sloppy typists, the semi-literate folks who don't read well, and possibly those with bona fide dyslexia. It's common practise for people to set up websites to capture the crumbs from someone else's efforts.
"All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing."
- Edmund Burke (1729 - 1797)
www.conservativeboot...
What would stop them
June 16, 2008 - 18:22 ET by TjexciteIf the left leaning AP goes after left leaning Retort what would stop them from going after the Drudge Report©
Thanks Brian..this must of
June 16, 2008 - 15:58 ET by bigtimerThanks Brian..this must of been what Rush was reporting towards the end of his show about the AP...I wanted to hear more...you filled me in.
"Never murder your opponent when he is committing suicide." ~ W. Wilson
AP - Limbaugh
June 16, 2008 - 16:21 ET by allanfLet me understand this. AP claims that printing excerpts and linking to the actual article infringes on its copyright.
I thought that issue had been long settled in Campbell v. Acuff-Rose Music Inc. The court held that commerical use of copyrighted material does not make the use presumtively unfair.
In any case, Rush Limbaugh issued a direct challenge to AP and promised to keep referring to their material.
allanf... Yep, I heard
June 16, 2008 - 17:55 ET by bigtimerallanf...
Yep, I heard that too from Rush and loved his response.
"Never murder your opponent when he is committing suicide." ~ W. Wilson
WHAT AP STANDS FOR
June 16, 2008 - 19:55 ET by reelman46AP STANDS FOR “ALWAYS POINTING…LEFT”
As the song says, “what to leave out and what to leave in”…
thousands of newspapers subscribe to the Associated Press (AP). This
agency gets to “frame” every story, determine “the action line” and
otherwise “initiate” hundreds of topics daily. No problem except when
the agency drifts farther and farther into the secular socialist
(modern liberalism) camp. The AP seems to specialize in omissions, the
liberal “talking points” and failure to retract errors. The thousands
of newspapers “believe” the AP and thus never ever verify or suspect
omissions. The newspapers have no staff of investigative reporters so
they simply “drink the kool aid” daily and that drink is often laced
with bias. Go ahead, pick any three (non-sports) articles. You can
predict with astonishing success the coverage slant. Its like
“conservative” in front of a person but almost never “liberal”…its like
finding certain words that smooth over the moral outrages of secular
socialism (edgy, progressive, etc.)… its like seeing the word
“unexpected” before any positive economic news month after month during
non-democrat administrations…its like words of praise for those of like
mind while little of the same for those evil humans that want less
secular socialism…its like reading DNC position papers all too often
and its like one giant filter pretending its “objective”.
This is another reason the secular socialists clamor to silence “talk
radio” and the “websites.” The masters of free speech no longer have an
unchallenged AP megafilter. Hence the term “hate radio” and such
labels. When you are afraid to debate printed ideas (or coverage) in a
free marketplace you are left with code words, labels and distortions.
As the old saying goes, “don’t believe half of what you read”…and lots
more than half if its from the AP.
Doug Schexnayder, Ph.D. (theconservativecrawfish)
reelman... Hear!
June 16, 2008 - 20:09 ET by bigtimerreelman...
Hear! Hear!
You said it all.
"Never murder your opponent when he is committing suicide." ~ W. Wilson
I can definitely emphasize with Cadenhead's situation.
June 16, 2008 - 21:17 ET by VonuRight. Perhaps you meant, you feel empathy for...
Ha! Thanks for the
June 17, 2008 - 08:22 ET by Brian C. LedbetterHa! Thanks for the correction, Vonu :)
Regards,
Brian
This Has Already Been Sorted
June 16, 2008 - 21:19 ET by geoff.galeAP withdrew the nasty letters that they'd sent because the resulting boycott had a nasty impact on the web traffic at their website. Since advertisers get paid per page view, lower traffic equals lower revenues, and lower revenues eventually mean that chief AP bigwig eventually loses his job.
Thank God for the capitialist way!
"All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing."
- Edmund Burke (1729 - 1797)
www.conservativeboot...