News ? The gift of sound and vision

Arts organisations are being encouraged to join a new scheme designed to create wider access to film, television and radio archives. The Creative Archive Licence, established by the BBC, Channel 4, British Film Institute (bfi) and the Open University (OU), is being heralded as paving the way for free legal downloading of selected copyright material from the Internet.
The scheme was inspired by the Creative Commons system, a flexible copyright arrangement pioneered in the USA, and is designed to encourage creativity in schools, at home and among artists. The Licence is designed to allow people to download and use visual footage and audio recordings for non-commercial purposes. Users will have to agree to abide by licensing conditions before gaining access to any of the material. Each of the partners plans to launch pilot schemes later this year. The BBC will initially be making footage from natural history and factual programmes available; Channel 4 footage will include specially commissioned establishing shots and video clips for VJs; the bfi will be releasing silent comedy and archive footage of British cities in the early 20th century; and the OU?s pilot scheme will offer video and audio teaching material from a range of subjects. Arts Council England will fund two fellowships for artists to work with material released under the Creative Archive Licence. The BBC has launched a central website for the scheme to announce news of material as it becomes available and provide links to material on partner sites.

w: {creativearchive.bbc.co.uk}