Woot bills AP $17.50 for quoting their content
The Associated Press, who have in the past taken a dim view toward quoting and linking to their content in the past, doesn’t seem to mind quoting from other people’s content, unsurprisingly enough.
In fact, the AP quoted from a post by Internet discount powerhouse Woot! when the retailer was acquired by Amazon last week. Woot! isn’t taking it lying down, though. The AP has suggested that bloggers pay for quoting just a few words, a move that largely bars new media from citing AP sources. The AP quoted a Woot! post in one of their articles, so Woot! said:
The AP, we can’t thank you enough for looking our way. You see, when we showed off our good news on Wednesday afternoon, we expected we’d get a little bit of attention. But when we found your little newsy thing you do, we couldn’t help but notice something important. And that something is this: you printed our web content in your article! The web content that came from our blog! Why, isn’t that the very thing you’ve previously told nu-media bloggers they’re not supposed to do?
Tsk, tsk, AP. And then Woot! suggested the AP follow their own standards, in a totally friendly way:
So, The AP, here we are. Just to be fair about this, we’ve used your very own pricing scheme to calculate how much you owe us. By looking through the link above, and comparing your post with our original letter, we’ve figured you owe us roughly $17.50 for the content you borrowed from our blog post, which, by the way, we worked very very hard to create. But, hey. We’re all friends here. And invoicing is such a hassle in today’s paperless society, are we right?
Woot! even gave the AP the option to purchase the two-pack of Sennheiser headphones for $7, which is a much better deal than just a few words- Woot! says:
You see, The AP, we think you’ll find the first pair of Sennheiser MX400 In-Ear Headphones lightweight and easy to carry, and we think you’ll like how they help you shut out the irritating sounds around you (such as, maybe, people yelling about the actual meaning of “fair use”).
Hee hee.
[Woot! via Consumerist]
