I don't think you can "opt out" and I doubt you can renegotiate. You can try to see if the title is available without PPR rights for a lesser cost usually through sales to individuals. It should be noted that there are many films almost all non fiction that basically are educational films and have little or no market outside of educational institutions. I personally think things would be far less frustrating if these titles were never offered for individual sales.It is simply not financially possible to make these films on rarefied topics without selling them for a few hundred bucks to institutions but again offering them for individual sales just muddies the waters. I have often worked directly with filmmakers and always advised them NOT to offer these kinds of films for individual sale. In a few cases we received specific requests often from researchers and we made some special accommodation but never listed them for sale to individuals.
However there is more confusion and frustration in what I would call films with a lot of educational interest but also retail and individual interest. Basically you can't really have your cake and eat it too, if a filmmaker or distributor wants to make money via retail and individual sales, they are going to have to expect institutions to buy it at the lower price unless they have a specific need for PPR. In many cases a film is released at higher price during the "window'" between its first release/showings before it is available for individual sales and eventual retail release for much less, generally in 3- 6 months. If you want it when it first comes out you pay a premium if you can wait, it will be less. I do think streaming rights offer a solution for some but not all of these situations . Need for PPR is rare (though without mentioning titles I work or have worked on some that do and should play outside of class) but need for streaming is increasing. I would think about negotiating to get streaming rights rather than PPR rights in cases where a title is not available at a lower cost. I think we all want filmmakers and independent distributors to be able to survive and it is pretty much impossible to do this if specialized mainly non fiction work sells for $30 to 100 institutions and 30 individuals. Both sides need to work together to find both a pricing and use system that works. This issue comes up around once a month. Perhaps there could be more discussions at ALA and NMM? Jessica On Mon, Jun 15, 2015 at 5:35 PM, Laura Jenemann <ljene...@gmu.edu> wrote: > Hi Anna (and all), > > > > I did want to ask a related question that may help Anna: has anyone > successfully opted out or renegotiated rights from the major educational > film distributors who > > have their PPR bundled into their educational price? > > > > For example: Film costs $400, for educational/PPR and you have > renegotiated for X price as educational/no PPR? > > > > Regards, > > Laura > > > > Laura Jenemann > > Media, Film Studies, and Dance Librarian > > George Mason University > > 703-993-7593 > > ljene...@gmu.edu > > > > *From:* videolib-boun...@lists.berkeley.edu [mailto: > videolib-boun...@lists.berkeley.edu] *On Behalf Of *Anna Simon > *Sent:* Monday, June 15, 2015 12:15 PM > *To:* videolib@lists.berkeley.edu > *Subject:* [Videolib] Library policy on buying institutional video copies > > > > Our library is currently re-writing its policy on buying institutional > video. Under the guidance of our copyright specialist who says that > classroom screenings fall under fair-use and do not require PPR (which are > included in most institutional prices), our new policy is to buy the > home-use copy of the DVD, if available, and not the institutional copy. Of > course if a video will be screened outside a class, say at a film festival, > we will upgrade to a PPR. > > At least one distributor has balked at this policy; another actually > suggested we purchase at the home-use price when I mentioned I couldn't > afford to buy all the videos I wanted from his company at the institutional > price. > > Legally this seems sound, but I'm still unsure about ethically. Do other > libraries have a policy on this spelled out? Do you always buy the > institutional price/PPR if available, or do you try to source the video at > the lowest possible price? If you do buy the institutional copy is it > because you feel you *should* or another reason? > > Thanks for sharing. > > [image: Library-logo-ES.png] > > *Anna Simon * > Collection, Research & Instruction Librarian > Art, Film, and Museum Studies > 202-687-7467 > ajs...@georgetown.edu > Ars Hoya: GU Art Blog <https://blogs.commons.georgetown.edu/ajs299/> > > > Georgetown University > Lauinger Library > 37th & O Sts. NW > Washington, DC 20057 > > > > 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
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.
