« Security Chief Defends Federal ID Mandate | Main | Congressional Video In Vogue »
GOP Retracts Pelosi Piracy Claims
The House Republican Study Committee on Thursday accused House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of violating copyright law on her new Web log by posting video segments from C-Span but quickly retracted its statement after a C-Span official said the usage is legal.
Pelosi spokesman Brendan Daly called the claim a "baseless attack by the Republicans" and "another desperate attempt to avoid focusing on the real issues that affect the American people." Lawyers for Pelosi and C-Span independently determined the video "is in the public domain and does not violate copyright law," Daly said.
The House and Senate floor footage "belongs to the American people," a C-Span spokeswoman said. "The content was produced using cameras owned by the government, not by C-Span. The video is not ours to claim a copyright on."
The RSC staffer that contacted C-Span "posed a very general question" about the network's IP protection policy and did not indicate that a press release was being issued, the spokeswoman said. "Had we known they were talking about House floor footage, we would have provided a more nuanced answer," she said.
A spokesman for RSC Chairman Jeb Hensarling of Texas would not discuss why the staff questioned the integrity of Pelosi's video or how it mistakenly concluded Pelosi was infringing. "Copyright and trademark law is very complex, [and] I'm not a lawyer," he said.
The first entry on Pelosi's blog, "The Gavel," dates back to Feb. 6, but it was not officially launched until this week. In its first release on Thursday, the RSC applauded Pelosi's efforts to adapt to new technology but said more than 16 entries were posted "on the very first day" that trampled the intellectual property rights of C-Span, a cable-industry-financed nonprofit.
The release also said the video was being used in a partisan way because Pelosi's blog only "shows Democrat after Democrat offering their views of the non-binding Democrat resolution on the reinforcement and realignment of American troops in Iraq."
The RSC noted that one of Pelosi's first decisions as the chamber's top Democrat was to deny a request by C-Span to be permitted to cover the House floor proceedings with its own cameras. Last month, Pelosi sent a letter to network CEO Brian Lamb, saying she believed "the dignity and decorum" of the House "are best preserved by maintaining the current system of televised proceedings."
Before the RSC debunked its own statement, Internet experts issued several reactions to the news that hit on the complicated nature of IP law.
John Palfrey, who heads Harvard University's Berkman Center for Internet and Society, said in an e-mail that creators need to be compensated for their work, "but so, too, must we make space in our society for serious debate and commentary." He added that "intellectual property law shouldn't be used to stifle that debate."
Julie Barko Germany, deputy director of the Institute for Politics, Democracy and the Internet at George Washington University, said Web video "truly has become the wildest west of the Internet. ... Everyone wants video" because it is seen as the medium of the moment, she said.
Posted by Andrew on February 15, 2007 04:32 PM | Permalink
Trackback Pings
TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://amcblog.nationaljournal.com/cgi-bin/mt/mt-tb.cgi/2737
Comments
As I noted in another National Journal blog, Beltway Blogroll, the problem here was not (as you correctly point out) with copyright law, but with the House Rules. Frankly, I don't think the copyright law is that complicated in this arena; there is no copyright in U.S. Government works.
As I discuss at Stubborn Facts, the House Rule which governs the TV cameras and their footage prohibit use of that footage for any "political purpose." It's a pity the RSC screwed this up so badly out the door, because the Speaker's refusal to allow C-Span to put its own cameras in the chamber was, as you note, to "preserve the dignity and decorum" of the House. She then promptly undermined that dignity and decorum by using the footage in a partisan, political blog attack.
PatHMV | 02.16.07 07:56 AM
 |
