Hi Not many things are currently rousing me from my post-retirement lethargy, but this issue does.
You're talking about buying a title from a distributor that has exclusive distribution rights. What's going on here--tiered pricing with specific stipulations re use--is really matter of business contract, rather than copyright. That is to say, the vendor can call the shots: the user, in purchasing a title, agrees to the terms and conditions of sale... The situation that fries (fried?) my ass is when a distributor puts its wares out into the broader home video market (e.g. amazon) and still tries to enforce tiered pricing. Basically, if a title turns up on amazon, I'm gonna buy it at home video prices, even if the vendor is selling the title at institutional prices via a distributor web site. If you don't need public performance rights (if all you're going to be using the title for is classroom screening or individual viewing in the library), you should always claim the face-to-face teaching exemption and go for the cheaper version. As for trying to persuade distributors to lower prices...I tried for 30 years and wasn't too successful, but then again I didn't try very hard, knowing as I did how slim the profit margin is for indie distributors and how generally tenuous that enterprise is... Cheers! Gary Handman > 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. > Gary Handman hand...@berkeley.edu “Blessed are the cracked, for they shall let in the light.” --Groucho Marx 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.
