journalism

The Media May Have to Pay $10,000 or More for the Walter Scott Video

A dashcam shot of the moments before the shooting.

The horrific video of Walter Scott being fatally shot by South Carolina police officer Michael Slager was posted on media sites around the world, but now news organization may have to pay up if they want to keep using it. The New York Times reports that Markson Sparks, an Australian publicity and celebrity management company, has sent cease-and-desist letters to various outlets and is asking for a onetime fee of $10,000. That appeared to be news to the man who shot the video, Feidin Santana, but he told the paper his lawyer said something he didn’t understand about charging for it. “The search for justice is served by turning the video over to law enforcement,” said his lawyer, Todd Rutherford, adding that the media was apparently in the “search for revenue.” Markson Sparks CEO Max Markson disputed the Times’ report. “That’s not true. I never said that figure,” he told the Daily News. “It’s case-by-case. It could be more than $10,000 sometimes.”

Media May Have to Pay for the Walter Scott Video