NBC "allows" bloggers to use debate footage: On Wednesday, NBC announced that it will join rivals CNN and ABC in making video footage of presidential debates aired on its networks freely available for non-commercial use. Under licensing terms posted on the MSNBC website, the footage is available for redistribution free of charge, provided that credit is given to MSNBC. The license also prohibits footage of NBC journalists from appearing in campaign commercials.

The announcement represents a reversal of NBC's previous policy and a victory for the coalition of Internet activists that has been pushing to make the debates more widely available for several months. In April, Stanford law professor and Creative Commons CEO Larry Lessig penned an open letter that was co-signed by Internet celebrities across the political spectrum, including Craiglist founder Craig Newmark, Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales, conservative blogger Michelle Malkin, and liberal blogger Arianna Huffington.

"These networks are not only embracing new technology, but new communities. Their willingness to loosen the reins a bit will go a long way towards improving our politics as more and more people get involved," said Mike Krempasky, co-founder of the conservative blog RedState.com, on Wednesday. Adam Green of the liberal MoveOn.org agreed. "It's good for our democracy that TV networks are removing themselves as the sole deciders of which debate moments can have a life online," he noted.

But skeptics might question whether the networks had the right to restrict use of the footage in the first place. Under the principle of fair use, copyright law permits the reproduction of excerpts of copyrighted material for criticism, comment, and news reporting. Although determining the precise scope of fair use is never an exact science, showing a clip from a presidential debate is about as clear-cut an example as we can imagine. In most cases, bloggers will be legally entitled to use debate excerpts without paying any attention to NBC's license restrictions.

(Read Original Article - Via Law & Disorder Section - Ars Technica.)