Associated Press, blogger end feud

The confrontation between the Associated Press and Drudge Retort blogger Rogers Cadenhead has ended with more of a whimper than a bang.

Both sides say they’ve settled their differences over the handful of Drudge Retort posts that were the subject of the Associated Press’ legal takedown notice last week -- but have left unresolved the broader issue of when and on what basis the news service will take legal action against bloggers who excerpt its articles.

The Associated Press continues to assert that the reproduction of the headline and first sentence of one of its stories is a copyright violation, said Robert Cox, president of the Media Bloggers Assn., who stepped into the dispute at Cadenhead’s request.

After flurries of phone calls and e-mails Thursday with Cadenhead, the bloggers association and their lawyers, the Associated Press issued a vague statement saying it had ended the dispute with Cadenhead and would continue its “dialogue” with the blogging community.

“The resolution of this matter illustrates that the interests of bloggers can be served while still respecting the intellectual property rights of news providers,” it said.

But we suspect that this feud isn’t going to die quickly.