When the sun finally shines, it's hard to get too worked up about bloggers' tiff of the day.

But last week's blowup over The Associated Press' clamping down on reuse of its content is worth a second look.

It may turn out to be the rattling chandelier that lets you know an earthquake's underfoot.

If you missed it, the AP asked the producer of a Florida blog to remove six blog entries containing excerpts of AP stories.

After the blogger, Rogers Cadenhead, wrote about the situation, prominent bloggers rushed to his defense and accused the AP of misunderstanding the new world of online news.

The AP talked it over with Cadenhead and some bloggers and the threat of a lawsuit subsided, for now.

Cadenhead said the outcome will be a set of guidelines for bloggers that the AP is expected to issue today. He predicts it could lead to a Napster-like battle over news and what's fair game for sharing.

After the backlash resulting from its clumsy move, the AP is being cautious. Spokesman Paul Colford wouldn't share any details with me or even confirm that guidelines are coming out today.