According to Broadcasting and Cable the Association of Public TV Stations has created a Digital Rights Coalition in order to ensure that some of the same Fair Use rights they enjoy for noncommercial TV broadcasts. Some of these rights are:
1) use copyrights audio in their shows without asking permission or paying, so long as no commercial use is made of them; 2) use published music, pictures or art works so long as they pay a license fee; and 3) teachers may record public TV shows for classroom use so long as the use is within seven days of initial airing and the copy they destroyed.
Sounds reasonable to me, though I would expect a collective whine from the content cartel, since they’ve taken every step of digitization to try and steal back control they weren’t supposed to have in the first place.
A hearty and vibrant noncommercial media is crucial to our culture and any hope of democracy. Provided the use really isn’t for profit, I don’t see why any noncommercial media producer shouldn’t enjoy these fair uses.
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