Al Jazeera to Offer Up Free Footage

DOHA, January 14: Select broadcast-quality video footage from Al Jazeera Network will be available for free for the first time under the Creative Commons 3.0 Attribution license, which allows for commercial and non-commercial use.

The footage will be available to be downloaded, shared, remixed, subtitled and eventually rebroadcast by users and TV stations around the world, with the network’s acknowledgment. At launch, Al Jazeera is releasing footage of the war in Gaza, providing exclusive Arabic- and English-language coverage from the network’s correspondents and crews online at cc.aljazeera.net.

Mohamed Nanabhay, who headed new media at Al Jazeera and launched the project, said, "As one of the only international broadcasters in Gaza, our coverage of the war has been unsurpassed. The launch of Al Jazeera’s Creative Commons Repository means that our Gaza footage will be made available under the most permissive Creative Commons license (CC-BY). With the flexibility of the license we expect to introduce our outstanding coverage to an even wider audience across the world. This means that news outlets, filmmakers and bloggers will be able to easily share, remix and reuse our footage."

Lawrence Lessig, the founder of Creative Commons organization and professor of law at Stanford University, added, "Al Jazeera is teaching an important lesson about how free speech gets built and supported. By providing a free resource for the world, the network is encouraging wider debate and a richer understanding."

Joichi Ito, the CEO of Creative Commons, commented, "Video news footage is an essential part of modern journalism. Providing material under a Creative Commons license to allow commercial and amateur use is an enormous contribution to the global dialogue around important events. Al Jazeera has set the example and the standard that we hope others will follow."

—By Kristin Brzoznowski