The Department of Justice said today it supports a proposal by the Associated Press (AP) to develop and operate a voluntary news registry to manage the licensing and online distribution of news content created by the AP, its members and partners.

The department said the registry is not likely to reduce competition among news content owners and could offer procompetitive benefits to both participating content owners and content users.

The registry would consist of a centralized database containing news content from multiple content owners. It would allow content owners to register and list individual items of news content, specify the uses others may make of that content, and detail the terms on which such content may be licensed.

"The AP’s registry may provide a new, efficient way for news content users to identify applicable terms of use and purchase licenses for Internet news content," said Assistant Attorney General Christine Varney.  

"The registry may benefit both news originators and content users by reducing the transaction costs associated with securing licenses for Internet use." 

The registry would be a non-exclusive method of accessing, licensing and using content on the Internet. It would be open, on nondiscriminatory terms, to all owners and users of Internet news content. Content owners would be free to select which, if any, content to include in the registry. They would be allowed to offer registered news content outside of the registry. They would also be free to join other competing Internet registry services.