Sadly there is just a lot of misinformation out there especially with filmmakers. You would have been well within your rights to keep the item because unless there is a clear contract at the point of purchase limiting the rights you of course had every right to buy it the lower price. I have had to really work hard to explain "face to face" to filmmakers and back in the day to some folks at Kino. I understand the need by filmmakers and their distributors for muli-tiered pricing but again this only works if they make it very clear per below at the point of purchase and only sell it directly. Frankly it is generally easier for most educational films to just skip the home/retail option completely or hold it back for a long time. Two of the filmmakers I work most closely with do NOT offer any cheaper/individual option, but they will on occasion agree to sell a copy to someone at home video price. They do this only on a case by case basis with a specific request and of course never to an institution.
I am really sorry for all the hassle you went through, but again the flip side of this was filmmakers finding out that several major institutions ( UCLA is the only one I can name) made copies of their films including from film prints and digitized and streamed them and a huge scale. One would hope filmmakers and institutions would learn to respect copyright law and the concept of everybody winning in more films are available at reasonable prices. On Fri, Feb 18, 2011 at 2:34 PM, Jacqueline Protka <[email protected]>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:* [email protected] [mailto: > [email protected]] *On Behalf Of *Jessica Rosner > *Sent:* Monday, January 03, 2011 10:20 AM > *To:* [email protected] > *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 <[email protected]> > 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* | ACQUISITIONS COORDINATOR > UNIVERSITY OF CONNECTICUT | HOMER BABBIDGE LIBRARY > 369 Fairfield Way Unit 2005AM | Storrs, CT 06269-2005 USA > *PH*: 860-486-3842 |* **FX*: 860-486-6493 |* **EMAIL*: > [email protected] > > 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) > [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. > > -- 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.
