Saturday, March 15, 2008
The Associated Press, "Kristen," and regrets all around
The Associated Press, which two weeks ago threatened and effectively shut down a blogger for using its photographs in connection with analysis and criticism of them, apparently saw nothing wrong with taking "Kristen" photographs and circulating them widely because they were "newsworthy":
Other media outlets, including The New York Times and The Associated Press, published other images that were from Dupre's MySpace page. The AP distributed three of those images, in one of which she is wearing a bikini, and issued a disclaimer authorizing the use of the photos only with reports or commentary on the Spitzer scandal. The photos were also restricted from commercial sale.
"The Associated Press discussed the photos obtained from the MySpace page in great detail and found that they were newsworthy," said Associated Press National Photo Editor V.W. Vaughan. "We distributed the photos that were relevant to the story. Those photos did not show nudity, nor were they explicit."
It seems to me that Ashley Alexandra Dupre has hoisted the A.P. on its own argument. Yes, I'm sure lawyers can make fine distinctions between the two, but in this case the distinction is surely fine.
Now, the Associated Press's article on the subject has an absolutely hilarious headline (along with yet another putatively "fair use" reproduction of one of Kristen's photographs):
I love that: "Call girl laments use of exotic photos." But not, apparently, being a call girl!
5 Comments:
By 
SR, at
Sat Mar 15, 12:36:00 PM:
Exotic ? Puhleese.
Should have gone to Vegas, Eliott.
By 
, at
Sun Mar 16, 10:32:00 AM:
I'll never understand the animosity by the blogosphere (and tech-heads in general) toward copyright.
I'm a news junkie. I presume you are as well. I don't want the media to disappear. (I'd like it to get itself in shape, and rid itself of the leftist bent, but that's an entirely different issue.) Content has value to a given organization only because of exclusivity, the ability to market and sell one's work on one's own terms.
Without that ability, the media -- and other content providers -- are not going to make it in the long run. You can give me all the evangelism you want about "citizen journalism" and "hive minds" and all that, but the bottom line is that I don't want to live in a democracy that doesn't have a powerful press.
As a news junkie, you probably don't either, if you really think about the long game here.
By TigerHawk, at
Sun Mar 16, 01:19:00 PM:
Actually, Jeff P., I am not opposed to copyright per se, not by any means. I am, however, opposed to media organizations using the copyright laws to insulate themselves from criticism, which is what the A.P. has been trying to do, especially when they have so little respect for the copyrights of non-media photographers.
By , at
Sun Mar 16, 01:34:00 PM:
Hypocrisy doesn't make someone wrong.
The AP's defense of its photo copyrights only strengthens Dupre's defense against the AP. It doesn't mean the defense itself is wrong or misguided.
Furthermore, you're only speculating when you assert that the AP is "using the copyright laws to insulate (itself) from criticism." You have no idea if that was the motivation in the other case. You're guessing. And anyway, it wouldn't matter. The AP has a right to protect its own work.
At any rate, sorry if I seemed to be spotlighting you as someone with animosity toward copyright. My perceptions were probably a bit colored by coming in from the snarky Instapundit link.
Best-
JP
By , at
Sun Mar 16, 05:08:00 PM:
Looks like the DISASSOCIATED PRESS is hiding some of its own skeletons
