AP to Set Web Licensing Fees

The Associated Press will begin charging newspapers and broadcasters to post its stories, photos and other content online, a pricing shift that reflects the growing power of the Internet to lure audiences and advertisers from more established media.

Tom Curley, AP president and chief executive, announced the change Monday at the annual meeting of the 156-year-old news cooperative.

Most of the 15,000 news outlets that buy AP’s news, sports, business and entertainment coverage have been allowed to “re-purpose” the same material online at no extra cost since 1995.

The new pricing policy, effective Jan. 1, begins to shift some of the funding of AP to the growing online market, as technological advances and digital devices are making it ever easier for people to get their news whenever and however they want it.

“The need for online licensing is clear,” Curley said. “For the Associated Press to endure during this digital transition, we must be able to preserve the value and enforce the rights of our intellectual property across the media spectrum.”

AP expects to offset the costs of the new online licensing fees by temporarily reducing its annual membership rate increases, Chairman Burl Osborne said.