The largest US news agency, Associated Press, says it is backing its threat to act against illegal use of its content online through a new system to track how its news stories, pictures and videos are used by websites and to enforce its terms of use.
AP, which in April said it could no longer stand by and watch websites "misappropriate" its stories, intends to create a news registry that will tag and track all its content online to ensure compliance with its terms of use.
The system, which will initially cover AP text content, uses a built-in "beacon" to alert the news agency about how each piece of its content is being used. The system will be extended to content from the 6,700 media organisations that are members of AP early next year; ultimately it will also cover photos and video.
"What we are building here is a way for good journalism to survive and thrive," said Dean Singleton, chairman of the AP board of directors.
"The AP news registry will allow our industry to protect its content online, and will assure that we can continue to provide original, independent and authoritative journalism at a time when the world needs it more than ever."
AP will fund development and operation of the registry throughout 2010, after which it is intended to become "self-sustaining".
The new registry will use a microformat, developed by the London-based Media Standards Trust, to "wrap" AP and its members' content with digital information for tracking and usage. The system will allow the collection of detailed usage information and the introduction of payment services.
Although Google's news aggregation service is often characterised as the biggest enemy of the news industry, the search engine giant agreed a deal with AP almost three years ago to host news stories and photos. Google also has a deal with another of the leading global news agencies, Agence France-Presse.
It is not clear how AP's new system fits in with the proposed Automated Content Access Protocol system, which organisations including the World Association of Newspapers and European Publishers Council have been pushing for several years. This is meant to be a "permissions information" technology for publishers content online. Google has resisted adopting it.
AP also said it intends to cut the rate that local TV stations will pay for text stories next year by 10%. AP has previously said it will cut fees for US newspapers next year. Rates for radio stations were adjusted several years ago.
• To contact the MediaGuardian news desk email editor@mediatheguardian.com or phone 020 3353 3857. For all other inquiries please call the main Guardian switchboard on 020 3353 2000.
• If you are writing a comment for publication, please mark clearly "for publication".
