It's the vendor's prerogative to sell at different prices, but it annoys me when a film vendor doesn't understand U.S. copyright law and tries to grant or deny classroom screening rights -- which are explicitly allowed in section 110 of the copyright law. I expect that the higher institutional price will include a license for public performance rights, but it has nothing to do with classroom use.
In this case, I would reply to the vendor, politely explaining the classroom exemption vs PPR. If the pricing is more than you want to pay - ask the vendor about discounts. I think we all understand that it's not feasible for most filmmakers to make a profit at $25 a DVD, but there's usually some room to work with. (I like discounts because stretching my funds means I ultimately am able to add more film titles for my patrons :-) And Richard - if you haven't attended the National Media Market, it's a great way to get to talk one-on-one with vendors and other video buying librarians. Barb Bergman | Media Services & Interlibrary Loan Librarian | Minnesota State University, Mankato | (507) 389-5945 | barbara.berg...@mnsu.edu -----Original Message----- From: videolib-boun...@lists.berkeley.edu [mailto:videolib-boun...@lists.berkeley.edu] On Behalf Of Richard Graham Sent: Thursday, September 20, 2012 10:27 AM To: cams...@lists.carleton.edu Cc: videolib@lists.berkeley.edu Subject: [Videolib] Institutional Pricing for DVDs rant 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.
