[artinfo] Creative Archive Licence

[Chris Byrne]

 From the BBC web site:

Online archive moves step closer

Free internet access to thousands of clips from public service radio 
and TV programmes is a step closer after the launch of the Creative 
Archive Licence. The BBC, Channel 4, the British Film Institute (BFI) 
and The Open University (OU) launched the scheme on Wednesday. It is 
the first stage of the Creative Archive initiative announced by 
former BBC director general Greg Dyke in 2003. Under the plans, the 
public will be able to "own" a copy of the clips and use them for 
their own creations.

Share knowledge

At the launch, the four partners in the Creative Archive Licence 
Group called for other media and arts organisations to join them. It 
is hoped the Creative Archive Licence will give media users legal 
access to material which they can use to express their creativity and 
share their knowledge. It will allow people to download and use 
footage and audio for non-commercial purposes, with each user 
agreeing to abide by the licence conditions before gaining access to 
any of the available material.
The archive was set up after the BBC pledged to "help establish a 
common resource which will extend the public's access while 
protecting the commercial rights of intellectual property owners".

The Creative Archive Licence is inspired by the Creative Commons 
system - a flexible copyright arrangement pioneered in the US to 
stimulate creativity. The BBC will initially make footage from 
natural history and factual programmes available under the licence, 
while Channel 4 has commissioned a selection of content. The BFI will 
be releasing silent comedy, early literary adaptations, newsreel 
footage and archive footage of British cities in the early 20th 
century. The OU's pilot scheme will be making available video and 
audio teaching material from a range of genre including geography, 
science and history, as well as footage from the popular OU & BBC 
series Rough Science.

Story continues at
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/tv_and_radio/4441205.stm

Creative Archive Licence Group
http://creativearchive.bbc.co.uk/index.html