AP to form news organisation to license digital content

 
The Associated Press is to oversee the creation of an organisation to help newspapers and broadcasters generate funds as more and more people get their news from mobile phones and other wireless devices.

The ambitious project announced yesterday by AP’s CEO, Tom Curley, at a newspaper convention in the States, indicates that AP – the world’s oldest and largest news cooperative - intends to play a leading role in tackling the problems experienced by long-established media organisations that have been unable to capitalise on the Internet.

The project will see the creation of a digital rights clearinghouse which will help the news media protect their content and generate more revenue as fast-developing technology hatches new channels for distributing the news they produce.
At the same time, for its member news organisations, AP is also expanding development of apps and content modules for the growing array of handheld devices, from mobile phones to tablets like the iPad, helping newspapers and broadcasters tap into the digital explosion.

"We've stood by while others invent creative, new uses for our news and reap most of the benefit," Curley said yesterday in a speech before the Southern Newspaper Publishers Association in Austin, Texas USA (18th October). "The digital marketplace is on the cusp of an even bigger phase of growth on new platforms and devices… We have arrived at a moment of significant opportunity," he added.

Under the rights clearinghouse plan, AP together with other news organisations would establish an independent entity which would provide rights clearance and privacy tools, a variety of ways to license content from publishers, and media intelligence services that would give insights to businesses about consumption of news content.

The clearinghouse uses AP News Registry – a tagging system developed by AP which allows participants to tag, track and measure use of their content online. As well as detecting unauthorised use of content, the registry's tagging system can provide useful information about who is viewing specific content or the frequency with which specific information is mentioned.
The clearinghouse could be in operation by the end of 2010. As yet no chief exec has been appointed.



More than 70 AP member newspapers and broadcasters have already gone live with private smart-phone apps developed by AP, in conjunction with Verve Wireless, Inc. AP also is working on private label iPad applications. Both leverage AP’s own award-winning AP Mobile platform, providing a complete content publishing and advertising system with no upfront development expense. AP is the only news organisation providing white label apps that leverage a common content management system for all brands of devices.

About The AP
The Associated Press is the essential global news network, delivering fast, unbiased news from every corner of the world to all media platforms and formats. Founded in 1846, AP today is the largest and most trusted source of independent news and information. On any given day, more than half the world’s population sees news from AP. On the Net: www.ap.org.
For more information, contact Sophie Toumazis or Suzie Schilling at tpr media:
+44 (0) 20 8347 7020 / sophie@tpr-media.com / suzie@tpr-media.com
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