yes and no... (Score 0)

Yes, video news releases, as they are often known, are nothing new. Yes, plenty of companies put them out. Even the government has put out VNRs. Yes, they have the potential to be an easy way to fill two minutes of a newscast. But there are MANY stations around the country that have strict rules about VNRs: many times, not permitting them, or if you do use them, you must disclose the source of the video. I don't think that there are stations wildly running entire VNRs left and right, as the OP somewhat implies. And even at a station that permitted VNRs, I doubt this VNR would have made it on air -- music piracy isn't really a "sexy" topic for the audiences that a lot of TV news is aimed at these days.