This Is Stupid – And You Can Quote Me On That

The Associated Press wants to charge bloggers $12.50 to quote five words from AP articles. See this rate chart for the evidence. I’m not sure which is more frustrating – that the AP has so little respect for the value of a free exchange of information in a free society, that they have so little understanding of “fair use” in copyright law, or that at least some people, intimidated by take-down notices and the like, will actually pay for doing something they have a legal right to do. It’s kind of amazing.