NY Post
Google is doing an end run around the Associated Press.
The search giant has stopped hosting stories and other material from the AP on its news site, and instead is linking to other media Web sites that carry the same AP articles.
The change comes as Google and the wire service attempt to hammer out a new licensing deal before their current agreement expires at the end of the month.
Neither side has been willing to discuss the details they're debating, but it seems likely that the AP is asking for better financial terms and more restrictions on how its content is used by Google.
"We have a licensing agreement with the Associated Press that permits us to host its content on Google properties such as Google News," Google said in a statement, which didn't explain the change. "Some of that content is still available today. At the moment we're not adding new hosted content from the AP."
A spokesman didn't return a call requesting further comment.
The AP declined to comment.
Google struck deals with the AP and other news outlet in the past few years to resolve disputes over whether Google had infringed on their copyrights by putting headlines and story snippets on its news site.
The agreement with the AP allowed Google to reproduce some AP stories on its sites, including Google News, rather than sending readers elsewhere.
Google insisted at the time that it wasn't paying to index AP stories or link to them, saying that practice fell under the "fair use" doctrine. The search company said the licensing deal covered new and more extensive uses of AP content.
The AP, however, isn't satisfied and has expressed concerns about its content being a source of revenue for Google and other sites that can sell search terms or ads on the pages.
In the past year, Tom Curley, AP's president and chief executive, has indicated that it will take a harder line with sites that reproduce parts of articles without a licensing agreement.
The search giant has stopped hosting stories and other material from the AP on its news site, and instead is linking to other media Web sites that carry the same AP articles.
The change comes as Google and the wire service attempt to hammer out a new licensing deal before their current agreement expires at the end of the month.
Neither side has been willing to discuss the details they're debating, but it seems likely that the AP is asking for better financial terms and more restrictions on how its content is used by Google.
"We have a licensing agreement with the Associated Press that permits us to host its content on Google properties such as Google News," Google said in a statement, which didn't explain the change. "Some of that content is still available today. At the moment we're not adding new hosted content from the AP."
A spokesman didn't return a call requesting further comment.
The AP declined to comment.
Google struck deals with the AP and other news outlet in the past few years to resolve disputes over whether Google had infringed on their copyrights by putting headlines and story snippets on its news site.
The agreement with the AP allowed Google to reproduce some AP stories on its sites, including Google News, rather than sending readers elsewhere.
Google insisted at the time that it wasn't paying to index AP stories or link to them, saying that practice fell under the "fair use" doctrine. The search company said the licensing deal covered new and more extensive uses of AP content.
The AP, however, isn't satisfied and has expressed concerns about its content being a source of revenue for Google and other sites that can sell search terms or ads on the pages.
In the past year, Tom Curley, AP's president and chief executive, has indicated that it will take a harder line with sites that reproduce parts of articles without a licensing agreement.
