Andy Staples and Charles Robinson Have Differing Views on Sharing Video Content With Competitors

Andy Staples of Sports Illustrated shared a video on his Twitter feed, of the aftermath in the crowd and of Donte Ingram’s dad after his son hit the game-winning shot for Loyola-Chicago. The Yahoo Sports Desk asked for permission to use the video on their social channels and was denied.

Earlier in the day, Charles Robinson of Yahoo posted video of Colin Kaepernick working out in Houston. The Sports Illustrated Assignment Desk asked Robinson for permission to use his video, which he granted. So Robinson responded to Staples’ snark:

So what’s the right answer here? Well, companies do monetize videos from people–whether they be writers like Robinson or Staples, or people who just happen to post video online. I think there’s an interesting question, though, about just how valuable these shares are when things are seen almost everywhere online within minutes if it is big enough. The SI and Yahoo accounts could easily just quote tweet the original video tweets and that would be no different than any other account that shares content. That would be totally inbounds, but not what these accounts do.

Robinson’s view is reasonable, because in the end, the sharing of this content with credit is not a net negative for the originator. Staples’ stance, though, is far more entertaining. It’s not quite ESPN asking a random Patriots fan for permission and getting slapped down, but it is funny.