Skyrocketing infringement rates and the seemingly inevitable arrival of an orphan-works legislation have scared the bejeezus out of content owners and inspired companies such as PicScout and The Copyright Registry to develop new products. The Associated Press is in both camps: the cooperative just announced that it is building an online registry of content to monitor its use, protect it from infringement and enable new business opportunities.
Initially covering AP textual content, the registry will expand to member content in early 2010. The company plans to eventually expand the service to cover photos and video, though it did not offer a specific time frame.
The AP registry appears almost identical to products in development by others: each piece of content will be tagged with identifying information and terms of use, and will employ what the AP refers to as “a built-in beacon” to notify the company of usage occurrences and methods.
The move is not simply reactionary. If the registry is successful in curbing infringement, it will also become a profit center. While the AP did not disclose the terms under which it plans to offer the new service to its members, the company did say it would finance the development and operation of the registry through next year, until it becomes self-sustaining.
The AP registry is the first step of an industry initiative announced in April. “What we are building here is a way for good journalism to survive and thrive,” said chairman of the AP board of directors Dean Singleton in a statement.