Like the RIAA’s problems with file sharing, the ease of copying and republishing information over the Internet has diminished, or is likely to diminish, the demand for AP’s content. However, rather than embracing this change and looking to alter its business model to take advantage of technology, the AP is seeing this is a zero sum game; i.e. allowing the use of their content, in any form, takes money out of their pockets.

Frankly, I see the AP’s stance as being less supportable than that of the RIAA. You may take issue with the RIAA’s tactics and its judgment in alienating its potential customers, but they are at least taking action against people who had no rational explaination for their conduct other than the avoidance of paying for someone else’s work. Conversely, the conduct that the AP is alleging to be infringement is most likely protected under the fair use doctrine. Unfortunately, somebody will need to risk a large judment and spend a ton of money to prove that it is fair use. However, this has always been the case when large players with somethign to lose have pushed the envelope of the law. For example, if the motion picture industry hadnt sued Sony over the recording feature of the first Betamax and lost, all VCR’s would likely have been play-only units.