This is truly Goliath going against David. What possessed the AP to suddenly notice ("it has come to our attention") a blogger in the Virginia blogosphere ... and what is his threat against them? Snapped Shot has been forced to shut down his blog until the situation is resolved ... here is his post:
It's Been Fun
We have been informed that the Associated Press takes issue with our use of their images on this website, and until I'm able to resolve this matter with them amicably, I'm going to have to take the site offline.
Please feel free to e-mail me if you know more about this kinda thing. I'm posting a copy of the AP's letter below, for full disclosure. [Go to Snapped Shot to read the letter.]
Background
Snapped Shot is a site that deals with the criticism of photojournalism. The industry is inaccurate in its reporting, it falls for terrorist propaganda too easily, and in general, the photos that you see presented as "news" on a daily basis are nothing more than fluff. This site has, from the beginning, intended to correct that by presenting specific instances of bias or inaccuracy along with commentary as to why said photographs are inaccurate. I have never drawn a profit from this website, and have never received compensation for any of the "copyrighted" works that are owned by the AP. Furthermore, I have always been careful to give full credit to the wire photographers who have taken the pictures, and have even interacted cordially with a handful of them.
What The?
So why is the AP seeking action against me? I am not making any money off of their work. I am not a mainstream "news" site ala Yahoo, Google, or Breitbart. So what's the deal? Is the Associated Press uncomfortable with the content of this website? Have I struck a nerve too close to home? No idea, but if you're a lawyer that deals in intellectual property, I'm ready to become your new best friend...
The Mrs. suggests that I start blogging about Gardening. I dunno, don't you have to deal with the National Gardening Association to do that? [Ed.:—Okay, bad "legal threat" joke. At least I still have my well-honed sense of pun!]
Updated: Sat Mar 1 11:58:11 CST 2008
As an aside, I'm somewhat befuddled on this point, and hope that some of you can help clarify this for me. How in the world can one provide analysis, commentary, and criticism on news photographs, if they are forbidden from actually showing said photograph? Did the Associated Press crack down on people who clipped newspapers out and shared them with their co-workers? Did they crack down on the thousands of fax-lists that powered New York through the 80's? And is this even relevant? I'd love to hear what you think.
I hope to continue with this blog, even though it's pretty clear that the form of it will change. I just need to make sure that everything's squared away with the current situation first. Please do stay tuned--I'll be posting updates here as I have them.
No comments:
Post a Comment