False. Television has always sought and recieved the permission of the copyright holder. Whether that was the artist/creator or not is not germain to this discussion.
The reason it is germaine is that it was claimed that
directors, actors and the like are acting as the aggrieved party in this case, when in fact their works are endlessly altered; I wasn't making a legal point.
The question of legality is moot in any case, since, as I said, Clearplay does the same thing in effect and is completely and uncontroversially legal-- and more power to them.