Yesterday, I described how Fox Chicago's short-sighted reaction to our use of clips from their news coverage recently resulted in the suspension of our YouTube account. Today, the Citizen Media Law Project (CMLP) at Harvard University's Berkman Center for Internet & Society took note of our case and provided some additional context. In his blog post on the matter, CMLP director David Ardia cited an earlier example of FOX's "overreaching copyright claims" before concluding:
Fox's heavy-handed response to Progress Illinois' use of its clips highlights the network's myopic view of the media ecosystem in which it operates. Rather than seeing Progress Illinois as a competitor attempting to steal website traffic from WFLD-TV, the network should be grateful that its political coverage is generating buzz in the blogosphere.
That's exactly right. The fact that we occasionally highlight excerpts from WFLD's coverage should be seen as a benefit to the network -- an indication of relevancy. If there is anything depriving the network of website traffic, it's their own failure to adapt to the times.
Take Fox Chicago Sunday, for instance. This is a great show and the origin of many of our (now unavailable) YouTube clips. Every weekend, the program is full of guests from across the political sphere in Illinois. For online commentators looking for fodder, it's a treasure trove. But take a glance at the show's homepage. It's a mess. There are only three video clips available for viewing -- all of them outdated.
In short, it appears we're being punished for doing a better job of promoting Fox Chicago's content than the network itself.
