Associated Press threatens AP affiliate over YouTube channel

The Associated Press, in its zeal to keep the news a secret, has begun to send legal threats to itself. WTNQ-FM, an AP affiliate in Tennessee, received the legal threat over its YouTube channel, through which it makes its/AP's material available to its listeners. When WTNQ-FM's Frank Strovel called up the AP exec in charge of the anti-YouTube campaign to discuss this, he discovered that "nobody told the A.P. executive that the august news organization even has a YouTube channel which the A.P. itself controls, and that someone at the A.P. decided that it is probably a good idea to turn on the video embedding function on so that its videos can spread virally across the Web, along with the ads in the videos."

Strovel: And we're an A.P. affiliate for crying out loud! I stumped him on that one. . . . What is really shocking is that they were shocked that they've got a YouTube channel that people are embedding on their Websites. He seemed shocked by that. 'Oh, I am going to have to look into that" is what he told me.
Grantham: What an idiot!
Strovel: I know, I know.

A.P. Exec Doesn't Know It Has A YouTube Channel: Threatens Affiliate For Embedding Videos (via Memex 1.1)

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Discussion

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#1 posted by manicbassman, April 8, 2009 10:31 PM

Clueless...

mind you, I can see one thing happening immediately... they'll pull the embed privileges for any content on their channel...

there... that'll fix them damn freeloaders...

#2 posted by Rider, April 8, 2009 11:11 PM

I think the larger implication of all this is how clueless the modern press is.

#3 posted by Talia, April 9, 2009 6:47 AM

Heh. Raging stupidity in positions of authority doesnt amuse me, it frightens me and makes me sad.

#4 posted by angusm, April 9, 2009 7:33 AM

Maybe we should help them out by reporting all syndicated AP content as possible copyright violations? Can't be too careful ...

#5 posted by dross1260, April 9, 2009 8:33 AM

Luckily , the AP will still be able to make money from it's stylebook for high school journalism students. That is if any teaching professional will endorse the use of it in the future.

#6 posted by Anonymous, April 9, 2009 9:10 AM

AP is clueless.

The other day I saw an AP news image of the Shepard Fairey Obama poster next to the original photograph that AP owns.

What was funny was that in that image, they were USING (via fair use) Fairey's image. So it's fair use for them, but not for him!

#7 posted by Baldhead, April 9, 2009 9:37 AM

Wow. How to not pay attention to things. shouldn't someone at least have asked the question "who is posting these?" before sending in the dogs?

#8 posted by merreborn, April 9, 2009 9:50 AM

When your business focus changes from producing your products to litigation, you've already lost.

#9 posted by sonipitts, April 9, 2009 8:10 PM

What an AP copyright takedown notice might look like:

http://digg.com/d1BlpR

#10 posted by J France, April 10, 2009 12:38 AM