Legal use of footage recorded off TV

[Dan Goulder]

Does anyone know of legal restrictions regarding the use of footage recorded off TV, if the footage is taken from a single common feed and broadcast live over all three cable news networks at once(CNN, MSNBC, and Fox)? Specifically, this involves live Q & A with the President. Your advice would be most appreciated.

[Guest]

Sounds like you are describing "pool feed video".

 

If the president gives a speech from the Oval Office obviously there is one camera in there with him, not 30 from every network. This feed is given to all of the networks and where the term "pool feed" comes from.

 

This video is public domain and can be used freely by any one who can get a hold of it. Remember Bill Clinton's speech in the movie "Contact"? The filmmakers successfully argued that the speech was public domain and could be used in their movie.

 

The question is how will you get a clean copy of any presidential pool feed? If you record it off the TV there will be a bug in the lower left corner. You could cover this with letter box or a matrix.

 

CNN and the other networks sell pool feed as stock footage every day of the week. But they can provide a clean copy with no network bugs in the lower left.

 

Video from the US military is also pool feed. For example those shots of bombs hitting targets recorded by jet aircraft. Obviously CNN does not have a camera man in the plane when the bombs are dropped, so the military gives the same footage to all of the networks.

 

You need to make sure the video you are using is in fact pool feed. If the president gives a speech at a rally and all networks are allowed to shoot their own footage, then each network's video belongs to them, and is not pool feed.

 

R,

[Alberto Larios-Saavedra]

Does anyone know of legal restrictions regarding the use of footage recorded off TV, if the footage is taken from a single common feed and broadcast live over all three cable news networks at once(CNN, MSNBC, and Fox)?  Specifically, this involves live Q & A with the President.  Your advice would be most appreciated.

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TV news organizations use each other's video with the proper credit displayed on the screen when the video is broacast; also one of the rules is to use the video within "regularly scheduled" programming (i.e. news show), otherwise you need to ask permission. Like Richard said, it is best to find out if the video is indeed from a pool feed and buy it, otherwise you might run into some trouble.

 

Good luck,