The Associated Press has decided its’ Public Relations in the blogging world is not bad enough. They have now decided to implement a citation fee of up to $2.50 per word. That’s right, they want to charge per word. But, have no fear if you are a non-profit organization or educational facility you will get a discount. How generous.

The AP supplies news articles throughout the world. News outlets will usually get the articles and rewrite them in order to make them longer. These news outlets will cite the AP as their original source. If someone cites the rewritten article, does that person owe the money to the AP, or the writer of the re-written article? This is just a sample of new issues that will arise should this policy be upheld in a court of law, which I have no doubt it will not.

According to Tim Conneally of Beta News, a meeting is planned for Thursday between the Associated Press’ Vice President for Strategic Planning Jim Kennedy, and Robert Cox, who heads the Media Bloggers Association. They will be attempting to figure out a “new way of sharing AP content, which now involves a fee per excerpt based on it’s word length.” This meeting should not take too terribly long. Mr. Cox just needs to share with Mr Kennedy a copy of the “Fair Use” law that he obviously is not aware of.

I also hope that Kennedy and Cox both understand that Cox does not have the power or authority to negotiate on behalf of all bloggers. Certainly there should be standards, however, Mr Cox is positioning himself to be the standard bearer for the industry. For his sake, as well as that of the Media Bloggers Association, and the industry as a whole, I hope he does not back down and give into outrageous demands, and forces the Copyright laws of the United States.

I do not know Mr Cox or much about the Media Bloggers Association. I will be interested to see how he represents the Association, and also how good his “negotiation skills are. Much is riding on the outcome. I wish him the best of luck.

In the meantime it is quite evident the AP has decided it has discovered a new, and rather large untapped source of profit. Let us clear up that misconception- together. Let the strike continue. Please use alternative news sources such as Reuters, Agence France-Press, McClatchy, or IPS. And remember, other news outlets are interested in the outcome as well. If the AP succeeds in this illegal and unethical maneuver they will certainly follow in the AP’s footsteps.