Online copyright protection group registers 1,000 members

The Fair Syndication Consortium now includes more than half of all US newspaper publishers.

Bloggers, the Magazine Publishers Association of America (MPA), The Washington Post and The New York Times are also involved in the initiative. It is based on online copyright tracking technology which enables consortium members to monitor instances where full copies of their material have been republished online.

External sites using the content will be approached with an proposed advertising revenue deal in return for continued use. If this is rejected, other options, including possible licensing or legal action will be explored.

"As one of the largest multimedia news organisations in the world, we find value in everything from subscription to ad-based monetization models," said Chris Ahearn, president of media at Thomson Reuters. 

"The Fair Syndication usage model is an important step forward in creating a thriving and sustainable commercial environment for our News Agency and Reuters.com publishing businesses, as well as our peers in the publishing world." ■