NBC Blocking Use of Bush TV Footage for Film Critical of War in Iraq
'Unofficially, We Don’t Think It Makes the President Look Good'
A BUZZFLASH NEWS ALERT
NBC is using its copyright protection to deny an award-winning filmmaker access to film of a recent appearance by President Bush on "Meet the Press," possibly because the network is trying to protect the President politically, a Stanford Law professor said today.
Lawrence Lessig, testifying before a House of Representatives subcommittee on proposed revisions in copyright law, said the network refused to allow the inclusion of a one-minute clip from Tim Russert’s oval office interview with the President on February 8 in an upcoming film on the war in Iraq.
The footage was requested by film director and producer Robert Greenwald, who last year produced an award-winning documentary about the Iraq War, "Uncovered," in which CIA, Pentagon and foreign service experts detailed the lies, misstatements and exaggerations by the Bush Administration that led to the U.S. invasion more than a year ago. Cinema Libre Distribution intends to distribute a new theater length version of the film, Uncovered, The War On Iraq.
"In preparing the extended version of the film, Greenwald wanted to include a one-minute clip from NBC’s "Meet the Press" interview," Lessig told the Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade, and Consumer Protection. "Greenwald was denied permission. The agent informing Greenwald’s agent of the decision stated, ‘Unofficially, we don’t think it makes the President look good.’"
Bush appeared poorly prepared and uncertain in his responses to Russert’s questions about the war, which now has claimed more than 750 American lives, and was widely criticized in the media. But NBC refused to allow any of the footage to be released and thus, said Lessig, put anyone using excerpts from the show under the "fair use" doctrine at legal risk.
"When permission cannot be secured, it forces the creator into an extremely difficult choice: whether to risk substantial exposure for copyright liability, or to remove the speech from the creator’s work," Lessig said. He said presidential statements and actions should be considered public, not private, property.
"We are pleased and excited to be the theatrical distributor for the new full-length version of ‘Uncovered.’ The additional material that the director Robert Greenwald has included is dramatic and important, including an exclusive interview with David Kay. We are troubled and shocked at the efforts of GE/NBC to refuse permission for the use of one minute of President Bush’s interview with Tim Russert. This refusal makes no sense to us on any creative level and we hope the efforts of Larry Lessig will result in a change of mind. The public has every right to review this film, and this segment," said Philippe Diaz, a principal at Cinema Libre Studio.
The first version of Greenwald’s film -- its full title is "Uncovered: the Whole Truth about the Iraq War" -- was widely distributed by MoveOn.org and the Center for American Progress in association with Artists United," a group of film, TV and recording artists who opposed the invasion.
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