I am not sure vendor's don't understand the face to face exemption, but at
a minimum some just are very sloppy in how they explain things on their
sites. As I said in my first email I think titles where the vast majority
of interest is going to be the institutional market I think it is best to
bypass individual sales to avoid confusion and resentment. However if you
do want to sell to individuals and prevent them from using their legally
acquired copies in a class you need to have a very specific contract agreed
to at the point of purchase. It is perfectly legal to restrict the use of a
DVD if you make that part of contract the buyer is well aware of and
accepts.
I will say that a lot of filmmakers are genuinely ignorant of the law and
actually believe there is some kind of requirement that institutions pay
more. I have had one very frustrating case of this and after sending over
various links including the copyright law I just gave up.
On Mon, Sep 24, 2012 at 5:57 PM, Bergman, Barbara J
barbara.berg...@mnsu.edu wrote:
It's the vendor's prerogative to sell at different prices, but it annoys
me when a film vendor doesn't understand U.S. copyright law and tries to
grant or deny classroom screening rights -- which are explicitly allowed in
section 110 of the copyright law.
I expect that the higher institutional price will include a license for
public performance rights, but it has nothing to do with classroom use.
In this case, I would reply to the vendor, politely explaining the
classroom exemption vs PPR.
If the pricing is more than you want to pay - ask the vendor about
discounts. I think we all understand that it's not feasible for most
filmmakers to make a profit at $25 a DVD, but there's usually some room to
work with.
(I like discounts because stretching my funds means I ultimately am able
to add more film titles for my patrons :-)
And Richard - if you haven't attended the National Media Market, it's a
great way to get to talk one-on-one with vendors and other video buying
librarians.
Barb Bergman | Media Services Interlibrary Loan Librarian | Minnesota
State University, Mankato | (507) 389-5945 | barbara.berg...@mnsu.edu
-Original Message-
From: videolib-boun...@lists.berkeley.edu [mailto:
videolib-boun...@lists.berkeley.edu] On Behalf Of Richard Graham
Sent: Thursday, September 20, 2012 10:27 AM
To: cams...@lists.carleton.edu
Cc: videolib@lists.berkeley.edu
Subject: [Videolib] Institutional Pricing for DVDs rant
Fellow camslib/videolib folks,
A faculty member recently requested we acquire a film titled White Scripts
and Black Supermen: Black Masculinities in Comic Books. At the site to
purchase it, the dreaded tiered pricing plan appears (
http://newsreel.org/video/WHITE-SCRIPTS-BLACK-SUPERMEN), with public and
school libraries allowed to buy it for $25, while colleges have to spend
nearly $200. They claim if you purchase the home video version, you are not
granted rights to show the film in classrooms. Now, I'm not a lawyer, but
these sort of statements don't sound right to me. A colleague mentioned
that some publishers do this because they need funds to cover future
productions and it's a way for large institutions to subsidize independent
documentaries, but I can't help feel offended that they use these scare
tactics and assume colleges can easily absorb these large costs. I'm
probably late to the party on this topic, but I wonder what your thoughts
are. Does anyone try to work with publishers/producers to make
these sort of materials more affordable? How do you all handle these
sort of acquisition situations?
Cheers from Nebraska,
Richard
VIDEOLIB is intended to encourage the broad and lively discussion of
issues relating to the selection, evaluation, acquisition,bibliographic
control, preservation, and use of current and evolving video formats in
libraries and related institutions. It is hoped that the list will serve as
an effective working tool for video librarians, as well as a channel of
communication between libraries,educational institutions, and video
producers and distributors.
VIDEOLIB is intended to encourage the broad and lively discussion of
issues relating to the selection, evaluation, acquisition,bibliographic
control, preservation, and use of current and evolving video formats in
libraries and related institutions. It is hoped that the list will serve as
an effective working tool for video librarians, as well as a channel of
communication between libraries,educational institutions, and video
producers and distributors.
VIDEOLIB is intended to encourage the broad and lively discussion of issues
relating to the selection, evaluation, acquisition,bibliographic control,
preservation, and use of current and evolving video formats in libraries and
related institutions. It is hoped that the list will serve as an effective
working tool for video librarians, as well as a channel of communication
