Lessig And 75 Others Ask For Fair-Use Presidential Debate Footage
by
on April 27, 2007,
Lawrence Lessig is at the pulpit again, and he’s talking about fair use, again. Which is great. Everyone wants fair use. (Except, you know, some media companies who'll remain unnamed here.) But Lessig’s talking politics, too.
He’d like to see recorded presidential debates be made available for presentation, and even “remixing”, on the Web. Can’t say I don’t agree.
Whether or not the presidential debates scheduled this year and the next (the first with all Democratic hopefuls in attendance occurred Thursday evening at South Carolina State University) are officially allowed or disallowed for publication to video hosts like YouTube, Photobucket, MetaCafe, and others, they will certainly make it to those places. But Lessig simply wants all such events which have a public concern to be get an official “up for grabs” stamp of approval by all involved with their production and their real-time and subsequent broadcasts.
The university professor and staunch proponent of fair use of media on and off the Web sent a letter to the heads of both the Democratic and Republican National Committees asking that video of all presidential debates held in preparation for the 2008 American election be free to upload, edit, and distribute by anyone online, and he’s already gotten some responses. His take on the “initial” replies? “Very good.”
Of course, Lessig wouldn’t be seen as practicing what he preached if he didn’t publish his requests made to the two largest political parties of the US for all to see. (Here’s where I tell you to visit his blog to view copies of both letters.)
As you can see on the linked page, over 75 well-known and influential people signed the letters (The letter addressed to the Chairman and General Chairman of the Republican National Committee, Senator Mel Martinez and Mike Duncan, respectively, mysteriously bears fewer named backers of Lessig’s request than its equivalent, made to the Chairman Howard Dean of the Democratic National Committee.) among whom are Jimmy Wales of Wikipedia fame and Craig Newmark of, well, you know who he is.
Official authorization by both committees has yet to be announced, but it would be very unlikely that refusal will be the end result of either letter’s submission.
