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Tom Curley said the news organization will come after anyone using its content without paying for that privilege.

AP CEO Declares War On Internet

Currently embroiled in a lawsuit with Moreover, Curley's interview at Paid Content had no details beyond the flood of cease and desist threats the Associated Press chief unsubtly suggested would become very plentiful from the news organization.

"If you want our content, we expect to be paid for it … this nonsense that you can just take the first paragraph or use the picture small doesn’t really fly with us. People die trying to take those pictures," Curley said in the report.

Many times, AP has to file a cease and desist against an organization, with lawsuits to follow, according to the interview.

AP has been facing the same transformative forces of the Internet that have confronted all kinds of media companies, from Hollywood studios to news organizations. Google's deal with AP represents one way Curley and company have tried to keep control of their content.

Fair use remains the topic that never seems to come up in the discussion of using content others have created. Doctrines of fair use allow for "any copying of copyrighted material done for a limited and 'transformative' purpose such as to comment upon, criticize or parody a copyrighted work," according to Stanford University's Copyright & Fair Use Center.

The problem with fair use stems from a lack of a solid definition of the concept. Stanford said this is by design, making it like free speech and not limiting it in some way.

This leaves the issue open for people like Curley and a deep-pocketed organization to force a definition of fair use by litigating against anyone who tries to reuse their content.

It's been said that the Internet routes around the roadblocks it encounters. In a world with many informational choices, it would be sad if AP's content entered a silo that useful commentators online have to ignore.

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News Tags: Fair Use, Internet, content, CEO, Tom Curley, AP