USE OF VOA MATERIALS

Domestic and international re-use of VOA materials are subject to separate guidelines. Under the Smith-Mundt Act, VOA programs are intended for dissemination to foreign audiences abroad. VOA is also prohibited from:

1. Spending its funding to influence public opinion within the United States, and
2. Syndicating its content through domestic media outlets with the intent to develop audiences within the United States.

However, VOA may, upon request, make its programs and materials available for one-time use to private individuals and organizations located in the United States, and media entities targeting audiences in the United States.

What sort of VOA programming is available for use in the United States?

All programs broadcast on or after July 2, 2013 are available upon request, unless we're restricted by licensing agreements with third-party copyright holders. Such programs (e.g., full length television and radio episodes) may already be available on voanews.com for download.

UNDER U.S. LAW, VOA IS NOT PERMITTED TO DISTRIBUTE IN THE UNITED STATES CONTENT PRODUCED PRIOR TO JULY 2, 2013.

However, copies of this content may be available through the National Archives and Records Administration (www.archives.gov). Please contact NARA with any requests for VOA content produced prior to July 2, 2013, or with questions about specific VOA content that is available from NARA.

Can I get access to VOA programming for personal use?

VOA makes program materials available within the U.S. through the same news and information websites that VOA uses to communicate with its global audiences. To access currently available program materials, please visit www.voanews.com and click on the Usage Request tab at the bottom of the page.

Are all VOA programs available on VOANews.com?

Please note that www.voanews.com links to VOA’s many individual language service websites. Click the ‘Sites by Language’ tab at the top of the page to see the full range of languages available. Many programs and news stories are only available on the site for the language service which broadcast those materials abroad.

Does VOA make its programming available to the media or other organization on an ongoing subscription basis?

Yes. VOA and the USAGM Office of Business Development evaluates ongoing subscription requests based on the broadcasting principles and standards found in The U.S. International Broadcasting Act. For more information on the criteria used to determine whether VOA fulfills an ongoing subscription request, see USAGM’s policy linked here from the Broadcasting Administrative Manual.

Can the media or other organizations get ongoing access to VOA programming for professional use?

Foreign media entities, or other non-U.S. organizations, may request ongoing subscriptions by filling out an application form found on the Direct System, the USAGM’s professional content distribution system. Expect a representative from USAGM to contact you about your application.

VOA does not grant U.S. domestic media permission for the blanket, standing or recurring use of original VOA content. Instead, a domestic outlet must submit a Usage Request for each piece of original VOA content it wants to use.

Can other media outlets or other organizations access VOA content for professional use?

Yes. To request original VOA content produced before July 2, 2013, go to “Request Use of VOA Material” found on the insidevoa.com home page at the bottom left under “Info Pages”.

Non-U.S. media outlets or other organizations seeking subscriptions to VOA programming on an ongoing basis, can find an application form on USAGMdirect.com. This is the distribution site operated by the U.S. Agency for Global Media, VOA’s parent.

VOA and the USAGM Office of Business Development evaluate subscription requests based on criteria outlined in the International Broadcasting Act. For more details, see USAGM’s policy linked here from the Broadcasting Administrative Manual.

VOA is prohibited from using funds to influence public opinion or propagandizing in the United States. To minimize the possibility of inadvertently violating this prohibition, we do not grant U.S. domestic media permission for the blanket, standing or recurring use of original VOA content. Instead, a domestic outlet must submit a Usage Request for each piece of original VOA content it wants to use.

Will I be charged for accessing VOA programming through the Direct System?

USAGM may collect a fee for reimbursement of the reasonable costs incurred to fulfill a request for program materials, including ongoing subscriptions for the media and one-time requests for copies of USAGM’s program materials. Any fees will be outlined in an agreement between the media entity, or other organization, and USAGM.

Are there special terms of use for accessing VOA programming on its websites?

Yes. By accessing Agency websites, Requestors agree to the respective Terms of Use available at:

http://www.voanews.com/p/5338.html, or http://direct.voanews.com.

I can’t find an older episode on VOA websites. What happened to it?

From time to time, VOA removes content from its website. For instance, VOA removes program materials from its websites when required by licensing agreements with third-party copyright holders. Once materials have been removed from one of VOA's websites, they are no longer available from VOA.

When VOA takes materials off of its websites, materials designated as permanent under the USAGM’s records schedule will be transferred to the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA). Programs designated as temporary under the USAGM’s records schedule will be permanently deleted once they are removed from VOA websites, and will no longer be available. USAGM’s records schedule is published in the Federal Register and is available at NARA's website, through this link. See Title 36 Code of Federal Regulations, Subpart F for information on how to request USAGM program materials that have been transferred to NARA.

Where can I find details about VOA programs, times, satellites?

VOANews content is available in more than 40 languages.

Radio & TV Program Listings found here.

TV Satellite Schedule found here.

Can I read VOANews on my mobile phone?

A: To find VOA News content in a format optimized for mobile phones and PDA's, use your device's Internet browser and navigate to:

http://www.voanews.com/ Then select your desired language.

There is also the VOA mobile app, which is available for Android and iPhones/iPads.

FAQs - Printable Version

Under U.S. law, VOA is authorized to make program materials available for domestic use, upon request, when doing so is consistent with all statutory authorities, prohibitions, principles, and standards. Requests may be for single use or for regular use of programs. VOA reserves the right to deny requests under circumstances described in Section 502.7 of this regulation.

To review regulation for recurring domestic use, click here.

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Click here for more.

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Domestic distribution of VOA materials, and partnership agreements with domestic organizations, are subject to policy regulations established by the United States Agency for Global Media in accordance with the U.S. Informational and Educational Exchange Act (Smith-Mundt) as amended in 2013 and codified into law.

Read our Internal Policy Document