F#!@g!!

Use and “abuse” of web videos by newspapersRelease 1.0 - Feb. 25th, 2013

“The Pot Calling the Kettle Black”

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Objective

The objective of this document is to show the extensive use of content taken from the web in the online editions of two major Italian Newspapers: Il Corriere della Sera and La Repubblica.

The hypothesis is that this material is taken freely from the web and used in a commercial context without any authorization. This while publishers, in Italy as in many other countries, cry for any use or reference to their content by the web.

There are differing views on copyright: for some is a sacred cow, for others is something that has lost meaning and needs to be reformed vis a vis new technologies and modes of expression.

Whatever your “side”, you should be consistent in your positions and behaviour. In this case, no matter where you stand on religion, you shoud follow the rule: “don't do unto others what you don't want others do unto you”.

Major newspapers seems to routinely violate this rule. They complain about “pirates” pillaging their content, with the complicity of “video sharing platforms”, but they seem to do exactly the same.

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Introduction

The examples proposed have been gathered in about a week of casual monitoring. There are at least two or three videos of this kind online at any time on each of the two websites. More in some periods (e.g. over the summer and during the holidays) when there are fewer hard news and people look for more “entertaining” material.

This is not embedding or linking, Videos are uploaded in the publishers’ servers and linked to the adservers. Prerolls are inserted and the video has also companion banner (300X250) and other forms of advertising. When needed videos are resized (to cut logos). Some times a credit is used, referring to the orginal uploaer or generically “From You Tube”.

Both la Repubblica and Corriere use content from RAI based on a license deal renewed on a yearly basis. Therefore I am not including examples of the many occurrences of videos taken from TV.

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Please note this clip from a BBC program uploaded by a fan and used by Repubblica,

with ads and prerolls,

Observe the covering of the BBC Logo!

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The meteors in Russia is a typical cases. Everyone, including TVs took videos (several) from the web

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La Repubblica

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Corriere della S

era

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Corriere della Sera uses a subsidiary “Redazione Contenuti Digitali” to produce content for the web and for DTT channels. Some videos are actually

“produced” (news, events etc.) while others seem to be remixes of content taken from the web, usually inserting a voice over/narration.

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For instance this video by them....

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...seems taken from one or compiling excerpts from several web videos

...unless they have acquired the rights on the stok footage market.

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Pre roll and companion

Banner

the video

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and the original video on You Tube

(original video has an intro that has been edited out in the Repubblica version)

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Not only videos, but also pictures.

As for videos, views are monetized throu ads

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These pictures are available in several blogs,

portals and social networks

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