Google News to pay for AP news articles

Google News has never ran any ads to collect revenue because of the legal issues surrounding Google News.

So technically now this means that since Google Paid for the article, they can plaster Adsense all over it...

Good Point TF. So what happens when an AP article ends up in Google's cache? That sure sounds like a legal mess.

How many publishers would really be successful in demanding to be paid? Many, like me, would be thrilled just to have Google News send me some visitors!

AP syndicates the content so natch if you re-publish it, you should pay royalties. That's normal copyright law, right? AP charges for wire access... so if you pay, you get the news as-it-happens. Again, basic news business.

The process of editorial and news reporting is pretty well established. What is not well established, is what Google has been doing for years now -- breaking from the established rules without precendent. I would be very surprised if there were not an agreement because there is little to stop AP from making a case going back a few years, to collect a nice cumulative fee/penalty. Surely this agreement absolves Google of past violations.

Another aspect that is untested, and which may be more meaningful, is the payment of royalties to those who syndicate content through AP. The photgraphers and reporters who take the AP deal... do they see any additional benefit when AP makes new deals retroactively like this? The National geographic photogs went through this when NG published CD collections, when it went online, etc. NG copyrighted the works as new works, which should have meant the photogs were entitled to new royalties. it was (still is? ) a mess.

Follow the money. Google makes deals to get out of the middle, but those deals don't fix the problems.