Video Streaming and ERA Licensing

[techie08]

Hi Everyone

 

We currently use Planet E Stream to deliver video content and i just wanted to confirm wheather we are allowed to transfer DVDs to this system be it all the content or just extracts.

 

We are covered by the ERA licencsing scheme but im not sure if we are allowed to do this. We have had staff members come in with DVDs they have bought of which they want put on the server.

 

At present we only allow internal access to E Stream

 

Thanks

[sonofsanta]

Not sure off the top of my head, but for reference, the terms of the ERA Plus licence are @ http://www.era.org.uk/doc/ERA%20PLUS%20Schedule%2009.pdf (pdf)

[Gibbo]

I doubt the DVDs will be covered by the ERA - the ERA relates to television broadcast recordings.

 

You'd need to check the terms of the licence on each DVD in question.

[plexer]

There is an educational expemption on the use of dvd's when showing them in the classroom for learning however I doubt that extends to digitally ripping them as that is illegal under uk law as far as my understanding goes?

 

Ben

[localzuk]

There is an educational expemption on the use of dvd's when showing them in the classroom for learning however I doubt that extends to digitally ripping them as that is illegal under uk law as far as my understanding goes?

 

Ben

 

The exemption only covers 'extracts' also, not entire films.

[plexer]

Can you quote a source that it can only be "extracts" please?

 

Everything I can find says that is has to be shown to be in the context of the curriculum and therefore could be a whole film.

 

Ben

[localzuk]

Ah, looking at the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 it says:

 

(2)Copyright in a sound recording, film or broadcast is not infringed by its being copied by making a film or film sound-track in the course of instruction, or of preparation for instruction, in the making of films or film sound-tracks, provided the copying—

 

(a)is done by a person giving or receiving instruction, and

 

(b)is accompanied by a sufficient acknowledgement,

 

and provided that the instruction is for a non-commercial purpose.

 

So, the 'extracts' bit is bluff from somewhere then.

[nickjelly]

I would like to know the answer to this as well. For instance with an ERA license is it OK to rip a commercial DVD in school for streaming if I KNOW the the title has been broadcast on free to air TV? Seems to be a bit of grey area.

 

In Australia things are a bit clearer with regards to this and schools are covered as long as they adhere to a few basic rules, including keeping the original copy on site, only ripping titles that will be used in the future, rather than maybe used. Can't post a link on my first post but google 'Format Shifting education' for more info on the Australian setup.

 

On a related point, the practice of persuing, and paying for individual licenses from publishers for streamed content just seems to be an unfeasible model for schools to undertake.

[Gibbo]

For instance with an ERA license is it OK to rip a commercial DVD in school for streaming if I KNOW the the title has been broadcast on free to air TV? Seems to be a bit of grey area.

 

No, the programme must be broadcast over the air (or cable I suppose) and captured "live" at the time by either by DVD recorder, video tape recorder or a Freeview card in your PC.

 

So take, for example, a BBC DVD of Blackadder Goes Forth. Even though it's been shown on TV so many times, the ERA doesn't cover ripping the DVD and would technically be illegal.

 

However, it would be up to the copyright police to prove its not a TV capture and conversion.

[sonofsanta]

No, the programme must be broadcast over the air (or cable I suppose) and captured "live" at the time by either by DVD recorder, video tape recorder or a Freeview card in your PC.

 

So take, for example, a BBC DVD of Blackadder Goes Forth. Even though it's been shown on TV so many times, the ERA doesn't cover ripping the DVD and would technically be illegal.

 

However, it would be up to the copyright police to prove its not a TV capture and conversion.

 

That gives me an idea actually - decent Freeview cards are not massively expensive, and we have enough spare parts lying around that we could easily build ourselves an XP based server to record programs and be able to provide the files to staff when they need... might finally be an answer to the "keeping iPlayer stuff longer than a month" problem I keep having to explain to staff.

 

Cheers!

[nickjelly]

Thanks Gibbo, I thought that might be the case. It's a strange situation when I have to put a shout out for a home recording of a film that's been on TV when I have the DVD to hand.

 

Does anyone have to know the number of minutes you can show that is deemed as 'fair use' in schools.

[Gibbo]

That gives me an idea actually - decent Freeview cards are not massively expensive, and we have enough spare parts lying around that we could easily build ourselves an XP based server to record programs and be able to provide the files to staff when they need... might finally be an answer to the "keeping iPlayer stuff longer than a month" problem I keep having to explain to staff.

 

That's what we did. Got a PCI Hauppauge WinTV Nova Freeview card and used the fantastic Showshifter software.

[plexer]

Thanks Gibbo, I thought that might be the case. It's a strange situation when I have to put a shout out for a home recording of a film that's been on TV when I have the DVD to hand.

 

Does anyone have to know the number of minutes you can show that is deemed as 'fair use' in schools.

 

You can show the whole of a dvd if it's relevant to T&L. This is different from showing a film for a wet lunchtime or after hours though which would have to be licensed seperately.

 

Ben

 

Ben

[sonofsanta]

You can show the whole of a dvd if it's relevant to T&L. This is different from showing a film for a wet lunchtime or after hours though which would have to be licensed seperately.

 

Ben

 

Ben

 

The Public Video Screening License (PVSL) to be precise, which allows for films to be shown for entertainment purposes so long as entry is not charged for admittance.

[plexer]

For queries I'd suggest emailing [email protected] or ringing her.

 

Jennie Dunn

Licensing Representative

Motion Picture Licensing Company (International) Ltd

MPLC House

4 Saffrons Road

Eastbourne

East Sussex

BN21 1DG

+44 (0)1323 649647 Ext 3569

 

Ben

[TechMonkey]

So in theory a file acquired from some medium, say from a network of world wide interconnected computers, would be OK as it was originally captured by DVD recorder, or PC card?

[sonofsanta]

So in theory a file acquired from some medium, say from a network of world wide interconnected computers, would be OK as it was originally captured by DVD recorder, or PC card?

 

It's my understanding that if you obtain it through illegal means, even though you have the right to a digital copy, it is still illegal. So if you have a DVD of a recent BBC series that you want a digital copy of, to make available on your VLE - as is specifically licensed under the ERA+ scheme - you would have to rip the content yourself and not just say "I have the DVD, I want a digital copy, I can download it from this link and save myself the effort".

 

Which is thoroughly ridiculous, and thus completely in character for copyright laws.

[plexer]

You can use a dvd or legal download such as from a online rental company but not a rip you've found on the internet.

 

Ben

[GrumbleDook]

You can use the DVD *played from* the DVD (ie not a 'ripped section') or the legally downloaded version under the PVSL licence and use the digitally encoded version from a free to air recording under ERA+.

 

Anything else would have to be on negotiation with the publishing company and any others who might hold some rights to the DVD / Video. Some of this might have already been done for you if using clipbank, clickview channels, etc ...

[sonofsanta]

You can use the DVD *played from* the DVD (ie not a 'ripped section') or the legally downloaded version under the PVSL licence and use the digitally encoded version from a free to air recording under ERA+.

 

Anything else would have to be on negotiation with the publishing company and any others who might hold some rights to the DVD / Video. Some of this might have already been done for you if using clipbank, clickview channels, etc ...

 

Thanks Tony - your knowledge puts the rest of us to shame, as always.

 

Given that the ERA+ only lets you use digital broadcasts then, have any of the channels given details of how schools can get permanent downloads to store on site and access later? A lot of BBC documentaries are ruddy marvellous for education, but only if you can schedule all your lessons to fall within a week of each other and only in the month after broadcast. Which is very annoying when it's a program that captures part of the curriculum perfectly and could be re-used year after year.

[SteveBentley]

Is that not the whole purpose of ERA+? You record it off-air and keep the recording.

 

I thought the digital bit referred to your recording, rather than the transmission medium - in Lincolnshire you'll only have analogue broadcasts until August anyway!

 

I don't know if this is the case for schools, but for us in HE we have to be careful with the BBC documentaries - if it's an Open University co-production it's excluded from our license, so that means that things like Coast are off-limits.

[GrumbleDook]

The full details of ERA+ are on the ERA site The ERA Licensing Scheme and I would recommend people take a close look at the terms of the licence carefully. After recent comments about logging what goes on for a copyright audit, this will also apply to materials recorded under ERA and then digitised / published under ERA+.

 

Section 6 - Maintaining Records - covers this quite a bit, including sorting out your library of recordings. I know many people will shake their head at yet another piece of red tape for having to log and itemise everything which is recorded, but this is just about creating a decent video library. Once you have this it makes life so much easier for staff who need to find any recorded material. This is why folk pay for things like Clickview or other electronic video storage and display systems.

 

Another important thing to remind manglement about ... this is a licence. It is an annual payment for the permission to do make use of the ERA+ setup. If you don't pay then you have to stop using and delete the digital recordings. The same applies to many schools becoming academies ... you might find that some of your LAs have been paying for ERA (or even ERA+ too) ... and this will now be the responsibility of the Academy.

[GrumbleDook]

ERA+ refers to encoded recordings ... the use of the word digitise is in reference to the process of encoding an analogue recording (or one made onto an off-line system such as VHS) into an electronic format, or the direct recording of a free-to-air broadcast via an electronic system. It does not refer to recording of channels broadcast on 'digital' rather than 'analogue'.

 

It's just one of those things where some terms are very similar but used to mean different things. That is why the first section in the terms for ERA+ is the definitions section.

[sonofsanta]

Is that not the whole purpose of ERA+? You record it off-air and keep the recording.

 

Quoting from Tony's link just there, ERA+ is "an additional licence which will enable licensed ERA Recordings to be accessed by students and teachers on line whether they are on the premises of their school, college or university, or at home or working elsewhere within the UK."

 

Which unless I'm misreading it horribly, sounds like you can make licensed shows available on your VLE. Which requires getting a permanent recording. Which as far as I can tell, has to be done individually by each school through a capture card and an aerial, because there's no scheme under which schools can access permanent, downloadable copies of shows.

 

I don't know if this is the case for schools, but for us in HE we have to be careful with the BBC documentaries - if it's an Open University co-production it's excluded from our license, so that means that things like Coast are off-limits.

 

Someone seriously needs to sort out copyright law. It's just getting ridiculous.

 

(although I suspect that's the point, you're so terrified that no matter how careful you are you end up breaking the law, that you just don't do anything, and/or pay over the odds for licences you don't actually need)

[GrumbleDook]

The ERA and ERA+ is an agreement with licence holders to allow non-personal, non-commercial educational use of broadcasted materials from most rights holders from free-to-air channels. There are some restrictions which is why the ERA and ERA+ terms tell you to look at the credits and not use it if the rights holders put something in there about not using it (similar to the intro on DVDs meaning you have to get the PVSL licence).

 

The licence is kept as simple as possible, but that also means that it is not that flexible ... they could negotiate it to be far more flexible that that would make it complex, produce a sliding scale for the licence charge and it gets messy.

 

The OU restriction (IIRC) in HE/FE is down to the fact that the OU is a university and they do not want other universities using their staff, materials, resources, expertise without paying an appropriate amount. IIRC it is possible to sort out a separate arrangement with the OU about this and it should also cover stuff which would normally be covered on Free-To-Air broadcasts too. I no longer have a contact in the team looking after this at the OU though ... so if someone was to try to find out it might be helpful for HE/FE members.