I have probably posted on this dozens of times. You do NOT need any extra rights to show a legally acquired film in classroom BUT if it is only sold from a single source ( Filmmaker or their rep) as opposed to retail ( Amazon etc) than they can pretty much set any restrictions/pricing they want by CONTRACT though it should be made clear that it is contract and not copyright and the system should include one of those "I have read and agreed to these conditions" type of sign off at point of sale.
A lot of distributors are between a rock and hard place. They have films which have very limited retail value but they also want as many people as possible to see the film so many offer copies to individuals. In the "old" days they rarely did. This comes with the obvious pitfall that you are going to piss off libraries who have to pay more. Sadly the vast majority of these films simply could not be made and distributed if all copies were sold at $25. I am justifying just explaining the reality. Personally I just think it better not to offer copies to individuals even if that limits the markets. I worked for several years on an excellent series of films on post genocide Rwanda and there was never an option for individuals to purchase the films at a retail price BUT when a special request was received, we would often agree to it explaining that we would make the exception but the film could not be used in a class or given to a library. Some of you may remember many months ago when the "groupon" experiment was tried. One company ( sorry guys I can't remember which one) offered to sell some of their most expensive titles at a very low price PROVIDED a minimum of institutions bought them in specific time frame. They did not even come close. I think I can speak for all distributors & filmmakers that they would MUCH rather sell 1,000 copies at $25 than 100 copies at $250 even with the added hastle but alas most of the films we work with won't sell 1,000 copies. On Thu, Sep 20, 2012 at 11:26 AM, Richard Graham <[email protected]> wrote: > Fellow camslib/videolib folks, > > A faculty member recently requested we acquire a film titled White Scripts > and Black Supermen: Black Masculinities in Comic Books. At the site to > purchase it, the dreaded tiered pricing plan appears ( > http://newsreel.org/video/WHITE-SCRIPTS-BLACK-SUPERMEN), with public and > school libraries allowed to buy it for $25, while colleges have to spend > nearly $200. They claim if you purchase the home video version, you are not > granted rights to show the film in classrooms. Now, I'm not a lawyer, but > these sort of statements don't sound right to me. A colleague mentioned > that some publishers do this because they need funds to cover future > productions and it's a way for large institutions to subsidize independent > documentaries, but I can't help feel offended that they use these scare > tactics and assume colleges can easily absorb these large costs. I'm > probably late to the party on this topic, but I wonder what your thoughts > are. Does anyone try to work with publishers/producers to make these sort > of materials more affordable? How do you all handle these sort of > acquisition situations? > > Cheers from Nebraska, > > Richard > 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. >
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.
