Obviously the filmmaker described below is oblivious to not only the
media/classroom landscape, but the importance of cultivating customers
as well. After such an exchange, it would be a cold day in...before I
would purchase anything that filmmaker put on the market. I had a
similar, but certainly not traumatic, exchange this week. I called a
major TV network about licensing a news segment for a local conference
coming up soon. After quoting the PPR license price, which was
reasonable, the sales rep added that the PPR would also give us the
added privilege of using the program in class on campus for the 2-year
license period. When I challenged the need for PPR for classroom use,
she said we were required by copyright to purchase PPR to use one of
their videos in class. I calmly challenged her assertion, and thanked
her for the information. Then I looked for, and found, something else to
accomplish our purpose. At least she had sense enough not to permanently
ruin my potential as a customer.
Gail
On 2/18/2011 1:34 PM, Jacqueline Protka wrote:
"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*| ACQUISITIONSCOORDINATOR
UNIVERSITYOFCONNECTICUT| HOMERBABBIDGE 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.
--
Gail B. Fedak
Director, Media Resources
Middle Tennessee State University
Murfreesboro, TN37132
Phone: 615-898-2899
Fax: 615-898-2530
Email: gfe...@mtsu.edu <mailto:gfe...@mtsu.edu>
Web: www.mtsu.edu/~imr <http://www.mtsu.edu/%7Eimr>
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.
