Absolutely, amazing.  I don't think they'd look too kindly on us taking their work just because it is a newswire and not a newspaper.  I mean isn't the AP/UPI just raw data? ...ahem... I know, I know...just making a point that their logic, isn't.

It's a shame courts are expensive.....I'd otherwise recommend hiring an attorney and suing.

The more public the action, the worse it makes AP look....and that would be VERY bad for the ad-driven wire, as advertisers don't want their good names sullied by advertising on a paper or wire that is on record for IP theft (and plagiarism is indeed theft of Intellectual property).

I wonder how many lawyers might be interested in taking this on pro-bono for the exposure......

When a news organization interviews a serial murderer, they put the murderer's words in quotes, thereby letting their readers know that the words were not from the news organization.
Even if the AP wishes to denigrate blogs, wouldn't even that awful "blog" deserve the respect given a serial murderer?

In our reality based community, things are actually working the other way.
Most respectable bloggers consider themselves to be a cut above the corporate media, as most bloggers are not owned by the corps profiting from war, pollution and disease.
ABC, CBS, NBC and other wanna-be networks can't report many facts, and must shade others, as facts can effect profits and stock prices.

Raw Story can report on Bush's Blunder in Iraq without worrying that the Board of GE will have lay offs scheduled in the newsroom in the morning!

What would Nedra Pickler think of this "kerfuffle"? Nah, they don't care, they're just a bunch of stenographers.

Boy,  I don't know. Legally, they may be right, I'm not sure.

But you just know there's some weasly editor who doesn't want to admit that a blog kicked AP's asses on a story.

I'd be surprised if it wasn't happening elsewhere.

You bloggers should really look into forming some kind of trade group to look out for your interests, if there isn't already one.

Does Raw Story have any lawyers on the case to check if they have a case against the AP?

Thanks Matt for bringing this to my attention. It certainly deserves our full attention. There is no excuse for this policy.

I guess I am pleased and proud to say that even the most lowly of bloggers usually give their source, no matter who it is. There is no excuse for this policy by AP.

Raw Story is one of my favorite blogs and to hear of them being plagarized without a thought to the hard work they do is appalling.

Dear Larisa Alexandrovna of Raw Story and all . . .

I am livid, as much by the action of Associated Press as by the authors own words written in the Raw Story update. Larisa Alexandrovna writes, "What we are or are not is frankly irrelevant."  It is this expressed sentiment that causes me great grief.  

I believe no entity, man, woman, child, or being is "irrelevant."  We all have ample worth and need to be recognized for this.  When we share our thoughts particularly through our crafts, we are we are giving a piece of ourselves.  Our written words, or art, are unique productions.  It is a creative endeavor and must be recognized as such.

There is not a living, breathing being on this Earth that does not have value!  All have rights.  Our furry friends realize this. They meet us and greet us; they know. No one is like us.  A man-made title or term does not define the status of excellence.

A blog author is not less literate, aware, important or "relevant" than another. An AP reporter, journalist, novelist, or perceived "amateur" poet do not differ in their craft. Often quality is indiscernible.  A paycheck cannot define copyright and if it does, "Woe is me."  We are a sadder society than I wish to believe is possible!

Please bloggers, and all individuals unite; state your worth and be certain you are properly recognized for your value!

Betsy L. Angert Be-Think

How low can they go?

I can't believe anyone at AP had the cojones to dream up that excuse.  I know I'd be sueing, especially if I had a registered Copyright on the article.

I realize this is writing for news purposes (substantial fair use aspect), but would failure to credit another news source wholesale be grounds for a lawsuit?

In a leading DKos diary last Monday I caught the AP blatantly lying in its headline about Sen Durbin's appearance on Fox News Sunday.  They claimed he said censure was "premature", when actually he was saying that about impeachment and was actually defending Feingold against Chris Wallace's RNC talking points.  They corrected the error in the article, but left the headline:
"Durbin: Censuring Bush over spy program premature"

In follow-up, AP's Jack Stokes (who has had a busy week, what with answering about the editor who got fired for printing an article by Senator Leahy) insists that the AP never corrects headlines even if they're false - only articles.  After all, clients are free to modify or replace headlines.  That's contrary to any newspaper's policy, where errors are documented and corrected whether they appear in a headlines or an article's body.

It's blues time, baby! So many know that I so often get so damn far out on those shaky little limbs that the AP zombies probably cannot even acknowledge my existence. Then again, I do get these epiphanies. Here is one.

THE SET UP! Just persuade, maybe, Jerome Armstrong to invent this killer expose that the AP bandits will have no choice but to make off with totally. But put a very subtle disclaimer somewhere where the AP parasites will never bother to focus their crossed, bloodshot eyes. Let them swallow the bait whole. Then just spring the old April Fool trap on them!

That will do the proverbial trick, I would bet. After that we rest easy; play around with the Weekly Word News and such. It will just be so cool!

Plagiarism is standard operating procedure at the AP.  I don't meant to suggest that the AP approach is right, but I'm sure they give excuses for stealing stories every day and they're currently amused that bloggers aren't with the picture on how the AP works.

The AP has a cadre of writers whose sole function is to read major publications and vaguely rework headline articles.  As a summer science writer for the Chicago Trib, I found it very edifying to watch the AP wire go out and to pick out all the articles that had been Trib articles and were now, with minimal sentence rearranging and wholesale quote lifting, AP articles -- and when they did this with one of my articles, I knew I had arrived.  When you read an AP article, you can generally tell whether it's original reporting by whether it has a byline.  Articles with no byline are always lifted from other publications.