Regardless of the AP’s intent, Singleton’s tough talk about those who “walk off with our work” fueled speculation that search engines (Google) or news aggregators (The Huffington Post) are now in the AP’s crosshairs. Singleton, talking of “misguided, unfounded legal theories,” even raised the possibility of litigation for those not following the rules…

“We need to get control of our content,” AP chief executive Tom Curley told Charlie Rose on Wednesday.

“So what you want to do in your own judgment is restore the balance of power between the publishers of content and search engines?” Rose asked.

“That’s right,” Curley responded. “We want a fair deal.”