This is a big step in the user-generated content space: BBC will start paying for viewer contributed content, but only for material that is “particularly editorially important or unique”, reports Guardian. New guidelines tell BBC staff they can make payments to members of the public who send in footage from mobile phones or cameras, but “audiences should not be encouraged to think that payment is the norm”, which will definitely put more pressure on the editors in judging whether to pay or not.
The new editorial policy guidelines state: “In return for payment we may negotiate an assignment of copyright or exclusive rights - but bear in mind that material other than photographs may be copied and used by other news organizations under ‘fair dealing’.”
Vicky Taylor, the BBC’s head of interactivity, said that “We do not want to give people the impression that we will pay for hundreds of pieces of user-generated content,” said Ms Taylor. She said the only time the BBC has paid in the past for amateur footage was for video of the Concorde crash in Paris.
Channel Five recently announced it would pay viewers £100 for contributions it used on air.