"For what it worth, there are a lot of filmmakers out there who sincerely believe there is actually some kind of copyright law that requires institutions to buy different rights."
We have had almost a year-long saga with one filmmaker who is operating under just this mistaken belief. We purchased a DVD from the filmmaker's website, via Paypal, for $20 + $5 s/h. There was nothing on the website that indicated different price points for home versus educational use or that asked educational institutions to contact for sales, nor was there any such indication on Paypal (I've taken dated screen captures to prove it). Our shipping address clearly said "Library." Six months later, the filmmaker contacted me directly to offer me the DVD at the educational rate of $250 which provides "educational PPR." When I said, thanks but we already have it, the filmmaker was outraged. This person thinks I should have known that educational institutions are required to pay educational PPR for films. Not only that, but this person labors under the misapprehension that $250 is THE STANDARD price that higher education institutions pay for all films. Long story short, upon consultation with our counsel, and taking into consideration that the film was not requested by faculty and never circulated in the six months it was in our collection, we decided to return it for a full refund. We did not want to set a precedent that creative agents or vendors can retroactively raise prices after a sale, but we didn't want to get involved in an even longer battle. (Could you imagine if every filmmaker and author represented in our library came to us and said, "Wait! This is in a library? You need to pay me more"?) However, I made the mistake of trying to be helpful. I sent this person the appropriate sections of US copyright law, suggested joining Videolib and Videonews, and pointed out that Microcinema sells some films with "educational rights" as low as $20 whereas Icarus sells titles for $390 and up so indeed there is no "standard educational price." This approach resulted in a schizophrenic series of e-mails and telephone calls first to me, then to my Library Director. These alternated between non-stop vitriol, followed five minutes later by a separate e-mail or telephone call with a business-like pitch to sell the DVD to us at the $250 price. After the Library Director abruptly hung up on the filmmaker for the third time, this person craftily pitched the DVD directly to faculty in the appropriate departments, urging them to request the Library to buy it. We frankly told the faculty that we do not want to do business with this person. If they want the DVD on reserve, they can submit their own copy...but they better be prepared to pay $250 for it. From: videolib-boun...@lists.berkeley.edu [mailto:videolib-boun...@lists.berkeley.edu] On Behalf Of Jessica Rosner Sent: Monday, January 03, 2011 10:20 AM To: videolib@lists.berkeley.edu Subject: Re: [Videolib] Here we go again... might one ask how it appeared on the site you used? Was it the vendors own site or a 3rd party site? To me the key is if this was or should have been clear at the time of purchase? Personally I think this is just sloppy on the part of the seller. I understand that filmmakers and distributors of films with fairly limited and in many cases mostly academic audiences charge higher prices. I also understand why they may want to let some individuals buy copies for themselves. It is perfectly legal to have multi-tiered pricing, but it only works if you control all sales directly and make the rules very clear at the time of purchase. They really need to have the kind of " I agree to these terms" section common on many sites. I think most established educational distributors make the terms pretty clear, but there is a lot of misinformation these days because of more fragmented selling. For what it worth, there are a lot of filmmakers out there who sincerely believe there is actually some kind of copyright law that requires institutions to buy different rights. Then again there are a lot of institutions which believe they can stream entire films without violating copyright so it may balance out. Wish I could be more definitive, but I think it depends on what information was available at time of sale. On Mon, Jan 3, 2011 at 9:41 AM, Chris McNevins <chris.mcnev...@uconn.edu<mailto:chris.mcnev...@uconn.edu>> wrote: Happy New Year all! I recent purchased a "home" movie from a vendor via paypal knowing that we would likely not ever need PPR rights. I received a confirmation of payment which included this statement: "Your Personal Use DVD has been shipped. Please note, the DVD is for home use only. It is not an institutional version and cannot be part of the University of Connecticut Library, nor can it be used in any classroom setting, or in a public screening. You can purchase a copy of the film with the legal rights for institutional use by ordering it through our website for $300.00 plus $10 for shipping and handling." Should I attempt to fight this or pay for PPR--or just let sleeping dogs lie and not say/do anything? Chris McN __________________________________________________ Chris McNevins | ACQUISITIONS COORDINATOR UNIVERSITY OF CONNECTICUT | HOMER BABBIDGE LIBRARY 369 Fairfield Way Unit 2005AM | Storrs, CT 06269-2005 USA PH: 860-486-3842 | FX: 860-486-6493 | EMAIL: chris.mcnev...@uconn.edu<mailto:chris.mcnev...@uconn.edu> Your feet will bring you where your heart is -- Irish proverb In wine there is wisdom, in Scotch there is strength, in beer there is freedom, and in water there is bacteria -- Attributed to David Auerbach ___________________________________________________ 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. -- Jessica Rosner Media Consultant 224-545-3897 (cell) 212-627-1785 (land line) jessicapros...@gmail.com<mailto:jessicapros...@gmail.com>
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.
