Newspaper publishers band together to control use of, payment for content

Newspaper publishers in the U.S. are hoping that a consortium approach will allow them to control -- and be compensated for -- the use of their content. According to a story in Editor & Publisher magazine, more than 1,000 publishers, representing more than 50% of the top U.S. papers, has signed on to the Fair Syndication Consortium. AdBrite, an online advertising marketplace, has agreed to work with the consortium to help monetize content.

The Fair Syndication Consortium strategy is to track sites that swipe and re-use content from the original creators. The Consortium would then contact the site as well as the networks serving ads for compensation.