Venezuelan Information Minister resigns over official footage copyright row

Caracas, Venezuela, 27 May 2008. This afternoon, the Venezuelan Minister for Information and Communication, Andrés Izarra, resigned over the dispute on planned copyright charges for the use of audivisual official information from1 June 2008 . In his announcement, Ex Minister Izarra stated the decision to charge private TV networks for the use of official VTV footage had not been consulted. Apparently, this most unusual decision was taken by VTV President ,Yuri Pimental, without proper consultation.

Today, it was unveiled that official VTV planned to charge footage copyrights in an attempt to make ends meet. Such decision drew criticism from different media quarters as it would impair the right of information and freedom of speech of Venezuelans. Furthermore, it would cause serious damage to the promotion of official information as private TV networks would not be ready to pay for it or air it promptly.

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Sources: Globovision, VTV, Unionradio,