C-SPAN Liberalizes Copyright Policy!
March 7th, 2007
Today, C-SPAN has stepped into the digital age and announced the liberalization of their copyright policy. Now online bloggers, citizen journalists, and anyone with something to say about their representative can post any federally sponsored event covered by C-SPAN online without fear of copyright reprisals.
From C-SPAN.org:
C-SPAN is introducing a liberalized copyright policy for current, future, and past coverage of any official events sponsored by Congress and any federal agency– about half of all programming offered on the C-SPAN television networks–which will allow non-commercial copying, sharing, and posting of C-SPAN video on the Internet, with attribution.
This is very good news for all online users of C-SPAN videos. These efforts to modernize their copyright policy should be applauded! Metavid can now focus more more the application layer, building interesting interfaces for remixing, contextualizing & participating with the audio video media assets of our government. The other great news about this announcement is that metavid can begin to capture and make available all of the committee footage broadcasted on C-SPAN in high quality ogg theora 
We will also of course continue are work towards capturing committees footage as broadcasted by the goverment through webcasts to simultaneously make a public domain version available whenever possible. This insures the maximum freedom for participants interested in re-using this footage. The House and Senate floor footage ofcourse is public domain and not subject to C-SPAN‘ creative commons like license. As mentioned in a previous post Carl has made some great progress in the area of posting committee footage online.
Entry Filed under: creative commons, cspan, related
6 Comments Add your own
1. Erin | March 13th, 2007 at 2:30 pm
When I heard the news, I went straight for this website. This is good news indeed.
2. David Sutherland | March 27th, 2007 at 12:47 am
I do not feel that C-SPAN’s liberalization policy goes nearly far enough; it is a false sense of security, a false sense of victor. And is, imo, actually thus a step backwards.
While it sounds like a victory consider that the footage is definitely still not in the public domain. Say you want to create a documentary and actually quote the floor. If you wanted to write a book you could go to the Federal Record and quote it freely, right? But if you want to create a commercial DVD you will have to purchase the footage.
I think instead we should mount a campaign to get congress to take over the recording in the house and have the material kept archived in the Library of Congress where it belongs.
For a Republican like myself this is one of those rare places I see that private enterprise should be out and the government should be doing the job.
It’s an issue I think we can find enough people on both sides of the isle on; let’s get a consensus and bring the government proceedings freely available, back into the media of the day.
3. Micfo | June 19th, 2007 at 5:09 am
This could be good democratize move by C Span indeed and that should be followed by others too.
-Bob
4. thebond.tv | June 20th, 2007 at 1:26 am
I appreciate this liberalizing policy of copyright,it will give more power to bloggers & citizen journalists.
5. Yurtdisi Egitim | March 7th, 2008 at 9:26 am
is there any one who knows any source about this subject in other languages?
6. komik yazilar | June 3rd, 2009 at 2:14 pm
i know that
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