Earlier this week, we heard of Yahoo's plans to offer presidential debate videos to be made available for mashups. In doing so, any user could create their own debate, from candidates they wanted to hear from, and utilize Jumpcut's video editing tools for re-purposing the clips.
Since then, Yahoo has changed its mind. The videos will not be available for mashup. You can still view them, however, and pretend that you're watching a mashup creation of your own doing. Yahoo's explanation boils down to this: the difficulty in coordinating the "virtual" debates, facilitated by Charlie Rose, took precedence, and those organizing the debates simply ran out of time to mention that the clips would be offered to the world for mashups. Don't know how they missed that boat.
Considering that the first set of video clips to be offered for mashing were Democratic candidates, with the Republicans in their usual lagging position, you'd almost assume that permission had already been granted. And unlike other networks like ABC and NBC, Yahoo has not specifically granted permission for this debate content to be made available without copyright restrictions. Some speculate that the commercial nature of its mashup project would warrant a conflict of interest somewhere along the way.
Nevertheless, the fun of making your own debate mashup will be left to those with the equipment and the patience with which to do so.