Forget fair use! That’s our news and you can’t have any!

We seem to be in the midst of a full blown frenzy of copyright related posts here at Impatient Sufferance. Since we’re having such fun, why stop?

Today we have word that ABC is tape delaying the broadcast of tonight’s debates and claiming that no news network may rebroadcast more than 30 seconds of the debate. Between the RIAA’s attacks on ownership of music, the Met’s claim of copyright on a nearly 400 year old painting, hypocrisy from the pop art world and ABC’s announcement, we are beginning to wonder if anyone understands copyright law.

The usage guidelines released by ABC today claim that until 5:00 AM on Thursday, no other network may air more than 30 seconds of footage from the debates. ABC is claiming that because it is choosing to broadcast the debate on the west coast at a later time than on the east coast, news networks may not exercise their right of fair use.

ABC defends the restrictions as being “very reasonable.” After all, ABC is footing the bill to stage the debate at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia.“We have an obligation to our West Coast affiliates to not make chunks of the debate available until their viewers have had a chance to see them,” an ABC spokesman said.

It seems highly unlikely that any network will respect these wishes, particularly if anything exciting happens tonight. The fair use exception to copyright law fairly clearly states that copyright generally does not apply to material used for news reporting or for a review.

The second issue is that TV and radio broadcasters are given free use of the airwaves in exchange for them providing free public services. The televising of debates is a prime example of this. By claiming copyright, they are asserting that this debate must be protected so as to not affect their bottom line. The purpose of providing the public service is not to create a source of revenue for the networks. It is to make sure that the public gets a useful service in exchange for surrendering the limited radio bandwidth for free. To that end, ABC should step back and allow excerpting as is generally tolerated. It is in the public interest to make access to the content of presidential debates easily gained.