The Associated Press is stepping up efforts to monitor unauthorized use of its content. The company will announce a deal Thursday with Attributor Corp. to fingerprint AP copy that can then be traced across the internet. This phase covers text only but other formats will be tested. The process includes continuous monitoring of “billions of pages” and comparison analysis. In the release, AP General Counsel Srinandan Kasi describes the services as “part of the next-generation licensing and enforcement services we plan to provide to our global network of members and subscribers.”

According to Attributor, its services also will be used with organizations that share or distribute editorial content or information through AP. The two also will explore development and distribution of applications based on Attributors technology and AP’s distribution platform. AP is the first announced client for Attributor, founded in 2005 by former Yahoo exec Jim Brock and former Moreover CEO Jim Pitkow; its scaling demands will be a major test.

Update: More from AP.