Fair Use

Rupert Murdoch really did open a can of worms when he said he was going to pull all of his content from Google. TechDirt decided to take a look at the hypocrisy that surrounds the media mogul when it comes to using other’s content:

As Rupert Murdoch talks about how he wants to cut off Google, while claiming that aggregator sites are "parasites" and "stealing" from him -- and that fair use would likely be barred by the courts, it seemed like a good time to examine at least some of the sites that are owned by Rupert Murdoch that appear to aggregate content from other sites and which rely on the very same fair use argument. We've mentioned a few in the past, but figured it wouldn't hurt to explore them more thoroughly.

Take a look at all the examples of News Corp websites “stealing” (Murdoch’s words) from other websites.

Let me pull up just one example user by TechDirt from the Wall Street Journal:

The AP has been becoming more and more vile in their claim of propriety. Last year they wanted people to pay a ridiculous amount of money to quote any of their articles and now, well they are going after the artist who made this famous poster:

On buttons, posters and Web sites, the image was everywhere during last year's presidential campaign: A pensive Barack Obama looking upward, as if to the future, splashed in a Warholesque red, white and blue and underlined with the caption HOPE.

Designed by Shepard Fairey, a Los-Angeles based street artist, the image has led to sales of hundreds of thousands of posters and stickers, has become so much in demand that copies signed by Fairey have been purchased for thousands of dollars on eBay.

The image, Fairey has acknowledged, is based on an Associated Press photograph, taken in April 2006 by Manny Garcia on assignment for the AP at the National Press Club in Washington.

The AP says it owns the copyright, and wants credit and compensation. Fairey disagrees.

"The Associated Press has determined that the photograph used in the poster is an AP photo and that its use required permission," the AP's director of media relations, Paul Colford, said in a statement.

"AP safeguards its assets and looks at these events on a case-by-case basis. We have reached out to Mr. Fairey's attorney and are in discussions. We hope for an amicable solution."

This is getting ridiculous. Perhaps all bloggers should unite and change their policies to fair use with accreditation, except for the AP.  We know they love stealing stuff from bloggers – so maybe it’s time to start fighting fire with fire.