Google and AP: How to make friends and licensing deals

Yesterday The Associated Press reported that Google and the AP have updated their licensing deal for online content. Specifics of the arrangement were not released to the public, although there are two main factors in the deal: Google will purchase the AP's content for an undisclosed amount, and the two companies will also collaborate to increase the AP's online revenue. The terms of the contact may not be dramatically different from previous licensing contracts, yet the recent announcement marks a shift in more diplomatic relations between the AP and Google.

Originally Google and the AP signed a multi-year licensing contract in 2006, but the conditions of the agreement left the AP decrying that Google was publishing entire articles without sufficiently compensating the newswire. Google retaliated, claiming it was in full adherence to international copyright laws. The negotiations for a suitable contact came to a standstill around the time that the original licensing deal was to expire. From December to February of 2010, Google news did not host any material from the AP. The two companies started collaborating again in February, and the recent announcement of a new contract implies that the rocky relationship between Google and AP is being smoothed over.

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