An inconvenient copyright

BoingBoing reader Solon Brochado in Brazil writes,

Former US vice president Al Gore will be in Brazil this Tuesday, Oct. 17th, as a special guest at the award ceremony of "Prêmio Eco" (Eco Award), awarded by the American Chamber of Commerce to companies that "adopt socially responsible practices, generating a rich reflection on the development of the Enterpreneurial Citizenship concept and practices in Brazil".

After the awards ceremony, mr. Gore will deliver a speech on the "impact of climate changes caused by global warming". This link (in Portuguese, sorry) is for a release detailing the press credentialing process. The interesting part are the last two bulleted paragraphs, where it explains how the press will be removed from the premises before Mr. Gore's address, "due to copyright commitments with various international entities that contribute data and images used in Al Gore's presentation". Only invitees (and the American Chamber of Commerce's own press aides, of course) will be allowed to watch the presentation.

Am I wrong in finding it rather odd that a presentation that's been thoroughly mentioned in American press, based on a movie that's been screened worldwide, should be closed to the Brazilian press due to copyright issues of data that, I'm quite sure, must be public for quite some time now?

UPDATE: BoingBoing reader Pedro Pinheiro in Portugal offers a translation of the aforementioned Portuguese-language website, after the jump.

AMCHAM PROMOTES THE AWARDS CEREMONY OF THE ECO PRIZE ON OCTOBER 17TH, WITH THE PRESENCE OF AL GORE

The credentialing process for the coverage of the event ends at 11am of Monday the 16th. There will be no credentialing in the day and place of the ceremony.

Amchan (The American Chamber of Commerce) will hold, on Tuesday, October 17th, from 7:30pm, the awards ceremony for the 24th ECO Prize, the most traditional brazilian award recognizing the companies commited with the principles and practices of entrepreneurial citizenship and sustainable development. The event will be held at the Ibirapuera Auditorium, located at gate 2 of the Ibirapuera Park, in São Paulo.

After the prizes are awarded, the special guest for this year's event, Al Gore, will make a presentation on the impact of the climate changes caused by global warming. A complete list of the winners of the ECO Prize is available at www.premioeco.com.br

Important notices to the Press:

- The press credentialing for the event coverage should be done through e-mail until 11am of October 16th, Monday (the day before the event), without any possible extension. There will be no credentialing in the day and place of the ceremony.

- Due to Ibirapuera Auditorium rules, photographers and camera operators should be positioned in designated areas and won't be allowed to stand up or move during the event. These professionals should remain at the seats indicated to them by the auditorium staff and work seated. These are central areas, in front of the stage, permitting a clear and unobstructed view over the whole event.

- Due to commitments for the protection of copyrights of innumerable worldwide entities that have contributed with data and imagery used in Al Gore's presentation, all media professionals with credentials (reporters, producers, photographers, camera operators, etc.) will only be able to remain at the event, in their designated area, up to the end of the awards part of the ceremony, scheduled for 8:30pm.

- Once the awards part of ceremony ends, before the beginning of Al Gore's presentation, there will be an institutional video presentation from the event sponsors. During this presentation, the Ibirapuera Auditorium's staff will orient the media professionals to exit the Auditorium using the central aisle only.

The media professionals interested in participating in the event should only do it completely aware of the conditions explained above, and acquire their credentials with Amcham's media company, Ricardo Viveiros - Oficina de Comunicação, through the following e-mails: [e-mail], [e-mail], and [e-mail] . More info through the following phone number: (11) 3675-5444.