C-SPAN Changes Rules for 'Hairy Legs' Pelosi's Blog

http://www.newsmax.com/archives/ic/2007/3/7/211802.shtml?s=ic

Wednesday, March 7, 2007 9:16 p.m. EST
C-SPAN Changes Rules to Clear Pelosi's Blog

It turns out that Republicans were right: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi did
violate C-SPAN's copyright by using its televised footage on her blog
promoting Democrats.

Officials for the cable TV network that provides daily gavel-to-gavel
coverage of House and Senate proceedings at first said the blog was in
violation, then announced it wasn't. On Wednesday, they said that it was but
that they're changing their policy so that it won't be in the future.

The new copyright policy will allow non-commercial Internet users to share
and post C-SPAN video as long as they attribute it to the public service
channel.

"Given our background and our history, an open approach is the most
consistent with our mission," said Rob Kennedy, C-SPAN's president. "We are
now saying under the new policy that that will be OK, for her or any blogger
or citizen journalist" to post C-SPAN video online.

Pelosi spokesman Brendan Daly said the speaker's office took down
copyrighted C-SPAN video when the network asked that it be removed.

Kennedy said that C-SPAN had been considering the new copyright rules for
more than a a year but that "there were several incidents that brought the
issue into relief with us." He mentioned last spring's flap with YouTube
over C-SPAN video of comedian Stephen Colbert at the White House
Correspondents' Dinner and the brief furor over Pelosi's blog.

Last month, the channel insisted that Pelosi, D-Calif., wasn't violating
C-SPAN's copyright by posting its video of House proceedings on her blog,
The Gavel. On Wednesday, Kennedy acknowledged there was a violation.

That's not what Bruce Collins, C-SPAN's general counsel, told Republicans
last month when a group of conservative House members accused the speaker of
violating copyright law by posting C-SPAN video on her blog.

On Feb. 15, the House Republican Study Committee issued a news release in
which its spokesman, Brad Dayspring, Pelosi's blog violated copyright and
trademark law by posting C-SPAN video online. Hours later, Dayspring
retracted the release after Collins called him and said there was no
violation.

A C-SPAN statement Wednesday said the network is implementing a "liberalized
copyright policy for current, future, and past coverage of any official
events sponsored by Congress and any federal agency ... which will allow
non-commercial copying, sharing, and posting of C-SPAN video on the
Internet, with attribution."

Dayspring said Wednesday that Republicans are "pleased that C-SPAN has set
the record straight and ... is proud to have been a small catalyst for this
long overdue improvement."

Pelosi's office also issued a statement saying she was pleased that C-SPAN
is expanding access to its video coverage of federal government activities.



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