[free-sklyarov] FC: AP reportedly doesn't like quoting one sentence from articles

[Wendy Seltzer]

At 03:26 PM 8/16/01 -0400, Brooklyn Linux Solutions wrote:
>about has an interesting news system with contracts that go beyond the
>scope of this
>list.

And as a result allows itself to be cowed into telling its writers that 
copying a sentence of text is not fair use?  Saying that use is barred by 
contract might stand or might not (depending on whether the About.com 
writers get  the stories only through contract with AP and whether AP can 
use a "hot  news" misappropriation claim to say its contracts are 
restricting something other than what copyright permits).   If it is 
contract, though, why are they telling writers it's copyright and 
contributing to a narrowing of the general norms of fair use?

--Wendy


>On 2001.08.16 13:17:13 -0400 Jon O . wrote:
>FYI:
>
>----- Forwarded message from Declan McCullagh <declan at well.com> -----
>
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>Date: Thu, 16 Aug 2001 10:48:01 -0400
>To: politech at politechbot.com
>From: Declan McCullagh <declan at well.com>
>Subject: FC: AP reportedly doesn't like quoting one sentence from articles
>Cc: info at ap.org, copyright at ap.org, holovacs at 1st.net
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>Reply-To: declan at well.com
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>X-Author: Declan McCullagh is at http://www.mccullagh.org/
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>
>A Politech irregular, Jay Holovacs <holovacs at 1st.net>, reports the
>Associated Press has pressured about.com to remove excerpted AP stories
>(with links to the offsite complete text) from the site if even one
>sentence is quoted.

--
Wendy Seltzer -- wendy at seltzer.com
Fellow, Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard Law School
http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/seltzer.html