Celebrity agent Max Markson is demanding thousands of dollars from media outlets wanting to run a video of a US police officer shooting unarmed black man Walter Scott.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
On April 4 during a routine traffic stop in South Carolina, Mr Scott, 50, fled from white police officer Michael Slager and was shot eight times in the back.
Witness Feidin Santana recorded grainy footage of the shooting and shared it publicly three days later, exposing Mr Slager's version of events as lies and reigniting debate about police bias against black Americans.
Sydney-based agency Markson Sparks, headed by Max Markson, has been hitting media outlets across the world with cease-and-desist letters, ordering them to pull down the footage or pay up.
He told Fairfax Media that in the past four days he had closed deals with several major broadcast networks, and was still hard at work over the weekend.
He claims he was contacted by people close to Mr Santana about protecting the footage and conducting licence deals.
"I have a lot of connections internationally. They reached out. They found me," he said.
"This is what I do for a living. I license footage. Media organisations who want to use the footage, they've had their fair use of it.
"If they want to continue using it, we'll issue them with cease-and-desist letters. They'll need to license it. There's nothing underhand or wrong about this."
The original YouTube video has been viewed more than a million times. Mr Scott's family praised Mr Santana, who works as a barber, as a "hero".
Mr Slager, 33, was hit with a murder charge and fired from the North Charleston Police Department soon after the footage went public. He had falsely claimed he had feared for his life after Mr Scott seized his Taser.
Death of #WalterScott does not add up. Routine traffic stop & cop kills unarmed family man. http://t.co/TbHm2V4gvh pic.twitter.com/VehJzpLT6e— No Justice No Peace (@drumbeats4peace) April 5, 2015
Mr Markson said the rumoured $US10,000 ($12,900) licence fee reported by The New York Times on Friday was wrong. The fee is negotiable.
He said the only group unhappy about the new arrangements would be media outlets, used to running amateur photos and videos posted on social media for free.
WATCH: Video of #WalterScott Shooting #BlackLivesMatter via http://t.co/OaYjmsMXUJ pic.twitter.com/ZgacnCcU8r— Capital FM Kenya (@CapitalFM_kenya) April 9, 2015
He rebuffed suggestions that he and Mr Santana were profiting from a death.
"I disagree. You could say the same thing as the hostages in the Lindt Cafe crisis. They got paid money for doing the story, they could have been dead," he said.
"I don't think anybody would begrudge this young man generating some revenue. The fair use period of one week is over. Now they have to pay for it."
Officer Michael Slager is charged with the murder of #WalterScott in #chsnews He is in bond court now. @ABCNews4 pic.twitter.com/6n6zGPwdeW— Cory Robertson (@CoryABCNews4) April 8, 2015
Mr Santana told the NBC network in the US what happened before he pushed the record button.
"I remember the police [officer] had control of the situation. He had control of Scott. And Scott was trying just to get away from the Taser," he said. "I heard the sound of the Taser – Scott had been Tasered before I started recording."
The footage shows Mr Slager's Taser falling to the ground. He then fires his gun eight times at Mr Scott who is running away. Mr Slager goes back to pick up an object off the ground, most likely the Taser, and places it beside Mr Scott's limp body.
Mr Markson said he has closed "millions and millions" of dollars worth of similar licensing deals in the past 15 years. He has worked with identities including Nelson Mandela, Bill Clinton, George Bush, Al Gore, Mike Tyson and Arnold Schwarzenegger.