The public has a right to see Presidential debates however they would like. DMCA does not apply.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 25, 2024
DMCA Won't Apply to Presidential Debate Clips
Ed Morrissey
Twitchy has a good post about this, so be sure to read it. I had forgotten that Musk still has to have a lawyer screen his tweets under a consent decree, but that's not the same as having an attorney approve his DMCA claim. (This arrangement was over a shareholder suit.) All Musk is saying is that he won't enforce DMCA claims from CNN on debate clips; it doesn't mean that a court would hold him blameless if and when CNN sues for copyright infringement.
As it happens, I'd bet that Musk is probably correct when it comes to clips that are used to offer editorial critiques, which should fall under fair use, especially given the public interests involved in presidential debates. If streamers are including the full show along with their commentary, though, that seems less likely to fall under the fair-use doctrine.
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