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June 13, 2014

Broadcast hack to news agency: We want your green puppy pictures. Money? We don’t pay for content that’s gone viral

By Axegrinder

Austria-based agency CEN Europics has had some excuses from media companies that want to re-use its hard-work for free,  but this one from a US TV show takes the biscuit.

WGN Morning News in Chicago contacted the British-run agency to ask for permission to run pictures of two puppies in Spain that were born green. But they refused to pay for them, apparently because the story had been too popular.

US broadcast hack:

I saw photos of the puppies that were born green in an article on the Daily News New York; may I have permission to run these images during the WGN Morning News broadcast in Chicago? They will not be posted to our website; they will only be show with a graphic courtesy to Europics show during the broadcast.

As Chicago’s number one rated morning show, we strive to look for the most original content to keep our viewers and crew entertained. Our show is driven by our diverse and hysterical talent, here’s proof https://morningnews.wgntv.com <https://morningnews.wgntv.com/>

CEN:

Yes I can send it over to you.

What are your rates for usage?

US broadcast hack:

Thanks so much for your quick response! Unfortunately, our newsroom policy strictly forbids paying for the use of content deemed “viral”. The story about the Green Puppies falls under that category. In exchange for free usage- I can offer both verbal on-air and on-screen credit to agency.

As I mentioned before, WGN Morning News is the number one station in Chicago- beating out other local and networking programming (i.e. Today and Good Morning America). Our viewership also reaches outside of the Chicago area as a portion of our six our WGN Morning News is broadcasted via the superstation WGN America. While I can’t offer any monetary compensation I can tell you the photos will reach a wide audience and we will push them to view the content via your services.

Axegrinder does not believe that CEN dignified this second email with a response.

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