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C-SPAN meets more flexible copyright

I was about to title this post, "C-SPAN meets Creative Commons," but that does not appear to be technically correct. However, this is still very good news. Thanks to Hui Hua Chua for spreading the word via the GovDoc-L list.

From the NY Times:

The public affairs cable network C-Span announced yesterday that it was changing its copyright policy to “allow noncommercial copying, sharing and posting” on the Internet of its coverage of events sponsored by Congress or any federal agency, a decision that covers about 50 percent of its material.

The rules would apply to video in the network’s archives from the late 1970s as well as what appears today, and is intended “to increase the political dialogue,” C-Span’s president and co-chief operating officer, Rob Kennedy, said.

The change, he said, would allow “citizen journalists” like bloggers and collaborative Web sites to link to the material without worry of copyright infringement.