One would think the utterences of the President of the United States, as President, would be quotable and usable as part of the public record of our highest elected official.
But what if they’re uttered on a copyrighted news show? That’s the situation here, where NBC has refused to grant permission to a documentary producer who wants to use a clip of Bush on Meet the Press. While, in theory, “fair use” would allow such a limited excerpt, film producers rarely buck resistance from copyright holders because of the costs of defending against an infringement suit.
Fortunately, the documentarian, Robert Greenwald, is going to take the plunge in asserting the fair use rights to the clip (along with, implicitly, the uncopyrightability of what our Chief Executive says in a public forum). Good for him.
Regardless of the use to which he’s putting the material, anyone who believes in the value of public discourse and freedom of thought, expression, and the press, ought to be rooting for him in this effort.
If NBC wants to keep people from rebroadcasting MtP, or even from using the footage of Tim Russert (the MtP interviewer) asking questions, that I can go along with. But to keep someone from utilizing a video clip of the statements of the President seems pretty goofy (and, from NBC’s perspective as a news organization, a pretty dangerous precedent to establish).