On Sun, 12 Jul 2009 23:47:18 -0500, Neeum Zawan wrote:

> On 07/12/09 22:14, Jim Henderson wrote:
>> Even the Associated Press is asserting their copyright over *news*
>> materials.  It's ridiculous.
> 
> 	That's different, and perhaps misleading. While I agree the AP is 
being
> unreasonable in what they're saying, they're complaining about the
> copyright of the content, not of the events. Someone took the trouble to
> draft that article, etc.

Yes, I know that's the difference; the problem is that if I write a news 
story that uses phrasing similar to the AP, I could get into trouble, 
even if my reporting is completely independent.

If they quote a source and I use (I think it is) more than 20 words from 
the quotes, that puts me in violation of AP's copyright, even though they 
can't legally assert copyright on someone else's quotes.  (IOW, they sue 
me, or threaten to, and I have to prove that they can't - and if I can't 
afford to, then *I* end up paying for their incorrect assertion of 
copyright).

It's not dissimilar to the way DMCA is applied - if a DMCA takedown 
request is issued, you have to comply or prove that your content isn't 
infringing.

In both cases:  So much for the presumption of innocence.

Jim

Jim

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