Current TV's Robin Sloan, responding to criticism about a new video submission policy, says the target contributors are "up-and-coming young video producers who aspire to do this for a living."
Look for a different policy aimed for others, Sloan says:
We think there are other kinds of contributors out there, too. Some may be potential citizen journalists who want to participate in different ways, on different terms, with different goals.
We're working on another version of our model that will suit them better, but we're not quite ready to announce it yet.
The harshest criticism I've seen comes from Josh Wolf, who particularly doesn't like the way Current's licensing agreement precludes a contributor from trying to sell a piece anywhere else disseminating the video elsewhere -- even on own's own videoblog -- for three months after submitting it to Current. Wolf is a volunteer organizer for a Current TV Meetup Group, and he says he's been told his criticisms are inappropriate considering his role. He explains here.
More discussion happening at Bayosphere, where Dan Gillmor referred to the submission terms as "Submission, indeed."
Thanks for covering this issue Ari; the thrust of my critique isn't that contributors can't sell their video elsewhere... it's that they can't give it away on their own website. Current wants exclusive commercial and non-commercial rights to the piece and that's what prompted me to make the post on my videoblog.
Posted by: Josh Wolf | Sunday, July 03, 2005 at 08:48 PM
Josh, thanks for checking in and setting me straight. I've corrected the post to more accurately describe your position.
Posted by: Ari | Sunday, July 03, 2005 at 11:26 PM