Prasar Bharati does not make copyright claims on any public service content, which includes the parliamentary proceedings reproduced by it, said the officials of the broadcaster on October 1 following an allegation that it had sent copyright infringement notices to YouTubers as regards parliamentary proceedings.
The issue was raised by Congress leader Gurdeep Singh Sappal, a former chief executive officer/editor of the Rajya Sabha TV, through his X (formerly Twitter) microblogging site handle.
“Prasar Bharti has sent notices to YouTubers invoking copyright on it. This is wrong. Parliamentary proceedings are national assets of historical value. They are not a commercial product that can be used for profiteering under the garb of copyright. In fact, any attempt to limit the access to parliamentary proceedings amounts to censorship and is an infringement of the rights of citizens (to) be informed of the happenings in the Parliament,” said Mr. Sappal.
