Hi Stephen (nice to hear from you!) I think there's a whole buncha confusion happening here regarding this issue (Jessssica...I'm looking at you!)
Libraries are in the business of selecting, acquiring, making accessible, and preserving cultural content. That's what we do. "Use it up, wear it out, make it do, do without" just doesn't fit this model--at least not in research libraries. (Things vary from library type to library type...) I have a copy of Selling of the Pentagon (produced by CBS, 1971)--a historic piece of TV. My vhs copy is dropping out as we speak. Used to be distributed by the dearly departed Carousel Films. No one answers the phone at CBS. Would I pay full price to replace on DVD?...in a NY minute. What are my options: letting a landmark documentary crumble into mylar and oxide? I don't think so. The law gives me the right to make a replacement copy and that's what I'm gonna do. That's why libraries are around...to make sure this stuff stays around for the future--no "if not, nots" about it. gary > We are a small distributor of many many short art films, and it would > hardly be worthwhile for anyone to pirate our stuff. Where would they > advertise > it? > > And yet I have a dog in this fight. Because every so often we get an > inquiry about a title and I respond with an order form, and the line goes > dead. > Why? Because we don't charge $10, we charge $50. And I think they figure > well let's see who has that, borrow it, and run off a copy. > > This whole discussion is really about having something that either you > can't have or that costs more than you want to spend. Parsing and > splitting > the copyright laws is just a proxy argument. > > If the XYZ Production Company ever does make a DVD of that title you want, > you can buy it. And if not, not. > > May I quote what is sometimes referred to as the New England credo? > > Use it up, wear it out, make it do, do without. > > Stephan Chodorov > Creative Arts Television > www.catarchive.comVIDEOLIB 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. > Gary Handman Director Media Resources Center Moffitt Library UC Berkeley 510-643-8566 [email protected] http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/MRC "I have always preferred the reflection of life to life itself." --Francois Truffaut 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.
