bonkedproducer's Journal: Copyrighting the Politicians (Rejected Submission)

There seems to be a growing trend at NBC News to prevent fair use of clips from their news programs such as Meet the Press by third parties.

Wired Magazine reported on this in a recent article when NBC refused to allow Robert Greenwald to use a one minute exerpt from Meet the Press in the update to his award winning film Uncovered: The War On Iraq, even when he offered to pay for the use. Now, The Weekly Standard is reporting that NBC News has issued a statement demanding that the DNC "cease and desist" from using a brief clip from Meet the Press that is included in a new campaign ad for John Kerry. The report goes on to say that CBS News is also planning to do the same to prevent clips from 60 Minutes being shown in the ad.

Is it a good thing when the major media outlets, who have a virtual monopoly on interviews with those in political power, have the right to control when and how much of the interviews are used?