GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Many viewers have written into 13 ON YOUR SIDE, wondering how political ads can use clips of our newscasts in their commercials.
Let's Verify.
THE QUESTION:
Can political ads run clips from local newscasts without consent?
THE SOURECES:
- U.S. Copyright Law
- The Federal Communications Commission
- Jeffrey Swartz, professor of law at WMU Cooley Law School, specializing in constitutional law.
THE ANSWER:
Yes, political ads can use local newscast clips without station consent under "fair use," as long as it is property attributed.
WHAT WE FOUND:
Under U.S. Copyright Law, it is legal to use copyrighted material without the holder's consent. It's called "fair use."
However, there must be attribution.
"Absolutely, they can," said Swartz, "Even though your broadcasts are copyrighted, when you put them out there, as long as you're given attribution, then that's all that's necessary. And since your logo is usually right there, what they're putting out there giving you attribution."
In fact, as journalists, we often use fair use in our reporting. You may see a movie, tv show or ad clip in our newscasts for a story. We are able to use that under fair use with attribution.
"Why don't you sue them for using your images?" said Swartz, asking a hypothetical question, "Your images are out there for public consumption, and as long as they're not taken out of context or misused in any way, then there's nothing that you can do. Filing a lawsuit is a waste of everybody's time."
Could the news station simply not run the ad? No.
Under FCC regulations, TV stations do not have the power to censor material broadcast by a political candidate. It has to accept ads from all parties, with reasonable access, equal opportunity access and at the lowest unit rate.
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