I would be stunned it it were PD. I believe in order for it to be PD it would could never have been copyrighted in the first place as anything from the last 30 years or so does not require renewal. Do you have link to that reference? Also the fact that is NOT out on DVD is kind of sign it is NOT PD as one would imagine that if it were some enterprising company would put it out. The fact that is on youtube and websites could merely indicate the rights holder or holders are not very proactive but speaking from experience it is hard to get this stuff down when pirate copies go up.
If the film were PD in it's entirety ( no underlying music or literary rights) than you could copy it, but again that seems unlikely. If it is not PD you can only use the VHS copies. The section of copyright law which "permits" making digital copies from VHS, limits this to copies that are deteriorating and said copies may not circulate, they may only be used on the library premise. On Mon, Dec 13, 2010 at 3:43 PM, Marilyn Huntley <[email protected]>wrote: > Hello, > I'm forwarding a question that was sent to me by a professor. If we do not > have the right to do what he's asking, can anyone give me contact > information for the rights-holder? > > "The Machine That Changed the World." A co-production of WGBH and the BBC; > the 5 VHS tapes our library owns (Giant brains, Inventing the future, > Paperback computer, Thinking machine, World at your fingertips) were > distributed by Films for the Humanities nearly 20 years ago. The series is > long since out of distribution (*http://preview.tinyurl.com/6rlfkb*), and > is available for free viewing on numerous web sites (such as * > http://preview.tinyurl.com/34pj6hh *and * > http://preview.tinyurl.com/39j4p93*, and YouTube). The Internet Archive > believes this is in the public domain. Should we trust them? > > First, can we make copies from our VHS tapes, and if so, are we limited to > using the DVDs within the library? > > Second, would we have the right to download a video file from a place like > this (*http://preview.tinyurl.com/5p55fd*), and burn it onto DVDs? > > Thanks in advance for any information or opinions. > Marilyn Huntley > > -- > Marilyn B. Huntley, Staff Assistant/ Film Specialist: > Scheduling; purchases, rentals, previews; licensing & copyright > A-V Services, Hamilton College, 198 College Hill Rd., Clinton, NY 13323 > Phone 315-859-4120; Fax 315-859-4185 > > > > > > > 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) [email protected]
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.
