The Associated Press has decided to use software to track the linking and usage of their news stories by search engines, news aggregators, and blogs, and … they want money for any usage whatsoever. Any quote, as small as five words (a mere $12.50 charge).

Yeah, good luck with that, AP!

Going forward, I’ll be sure not to send any eyes to any AP stories. There are always other sources for news, and some of them actually understand Fair Use. From the griping I hear on the ‘net, I won’t be the only one avoiding linking to them or, heaven forbid, quoting a single word associated with the Associated Press. They swear they won’t be going after bloggers (like me) for quoting bits and pieces of articles, but that isn’t what the fine print says, and I have no reason to trust the AP. Best just to avoid having anything to do with them.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to go laugh my ass off now. $12.50 for a five word quote? That’s beyond hilarious. :lol:

Anyone really interested in reading more about this, Daggle has an interesting round-up of information, and over at Boing Boing, someone has posted some more detailed information on the license agreement in particular.