New York - The Associated Press (AP) newsgathering agency will attempt to define how much attributed borrowing constitutes "fair use" of its news articles and broadcasts for bloggers and other websites, The New York Times reports. The AP last week asked a blog called the Drudge Retort to remove seven posts that contained quotes from AP articles that ranged from 39 to 79 words.

After receiving criticism for the move, the AP over the weekend retreated a bit, calling its approach "heavy-handed," and decided to hold meetings both internally and with bloggers to establish a more clear set of guidelines for use of its content online.

"We are not trying to sue bloggers," Jim Kennedy, VP and strategy director of the AP, told The Times.

"That would be the rough equivalent of suing grandma and the kids for stealing music. That is not what we are trying to do."

Related Links:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/16/business/media/16ap.html

http://www.ap.org