BBC Shares Archives Through Legal Downloads

Staff – MediaTel NewsLine The BBC has launched the Creative Archive Licence, allowing companies and institutions to download material from its extensive film, television and radio back catalogue legally for the first time.

Media and arts organisations, universities and libraries have been urged by the Corporation to subscribe to the scheme, designed to allow public access to footage and sound from some of the largest archives in the UK, as well as specially commissioned material.

The BBC, Channel 4, the British Film Institute and The Open University have worked together to launch the project, with Teachers’ TV and the Arts Council of England the first to sign up for access.

Access to the extensive archive material is intended to foster knowledge and creativity, with subscribers given the material completely free of charge. The project is expected to cause an explosion in creativity across Britain, as people utilise the footage in personal projects, classroom presentations and their own artistic creations.

In the long term the Corporation hopes that some of the creations made by subscribers will be uploaded back to the website to be shared with others across the internet, as access is granted on the proviso that content is not used for commercial purposes.

Channel 4, the British Film Institute and The Open University will also make material available for download as part of the scheme, with content including material from Channel 4’s online documentary channel, FourDocs (see Channel 4 Unveils FourDocs To Boost PSB Content Online).

In addition, Teachers’ TV will be launching a pilot scheme offering downloads of its programmes, and Arts Council England will fund two fellowships for artists to work with material released under the Creative Archive Licence.

BBC: 020 8743 8000 www.bbc.co.uk

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