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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Eye On Olympia

In great demand: TVW footage…

Really. The state's public affairs network, famous for its "gavel-to-gavel" coverage of the legislature, state supreme court, etc., is clamping down on bloggers lifting video or audio from the site.

On Friday, the network started contacting bloggers, including me, who use excerpts from its recordings. TVW has long allowed TV and radio reporters to edit and use its content and apparently still does.

But the network, which copyrights its work, says it's worried about its streaming-video clips turning up in campaign attack ads. That could presumably draw official ire that could threaten the goodwill and access the network has worked hard to gain.

It's not hard to imagine the content being put to attack-ad use. TVW cameras and microphones have inadvertently caught lawmakers falling asleep at their desks, stammering foolishly in floor speeches and ranting at each other.

This week, the network has successfully asked YouTube to pull this video, posted by Horse's Ass political blogger David Goldstein. So Goldstein promptly...



Short takes and breaking news from the Washington Legislature and the state capital.