criterionforum.org

Tribeca, Amazon to digitize rare films
Launching with 500 titles; 1,500 more within a few months
By Gregg Goldstein

June 9, 2008, 12:00 AM

ReframeCollection.org

Related Content ReframeCollection.org
The Tribeca Film Institute is partnering with Amazon to launch Reframe, a Web site for rare film and video owners to digitally convert and sell their titles.

Launching Monday at ReframeCollection.org, the site will provide free digital copies of video and "at-cost" conversion of films to content owners, then rent or sell the digital download or DVD versions on a nonexclusive basis. Reframe will use Amazon's DVD on Demand service for physical copies and its Unbox service for digital downloads to rent or sell.

TFI CEO Brian Newman said the site will launch with 500 titles, and about 1,500 will be digitized within the next few months. Reframe's goal is to host 10,000 titles within the next year. Experimental works from such filmmakers as Sally Potter and Ken Jacobs, archival footage and other rare materials will be available via the site's search engine.

The nonprofit TFI and copyright holders will split the profit on digital download rentals and purchases (distributed in Windows Media Player format) evenly. DVD sales will operate under a tiered system, with 40% of $50 and under titles, 85% of $51-$200 titles and 90% of more than $200 titles going to rights holders. More expensive titles will be aimed at the educational market looking for classroom materials, though rentals in the $4 range, lasting anywhere from 36 hours-30 days, are accessible to all visitors. Buyers must have an Amazon account to make purchases.

Reframe collaborated with CreateSpace (creator of DVD on Demand technology) to develop the site. Major funding for the venture was provided by the John D. & Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.

In the coming months, Newman said he hopes to add social networking elements to the site, which is in beta. The site is one of the first TFI initiatives since the organization absorbed fellow nonprofit Renew Media this year.
Tribeca, Amazon to digitize rare films
Launching with 500 titles; 1,500 more within a few months
By Gregg Goldstein

June 9, 2008, 12:00 AM

Related Content ReframeCollection.org
The Tribeca Film Institute is partnering with Amazon to launch Reframe, a Web site for rare film and video owners to digitally convert and sell their titles.

Launching Monday at ReframeCollection.org, the site will provide free digital copies of video and "at-cost" conversion of films to content owners, then rent or sell the digital download or DVD versions on a nonexclusive basis. Reframe will use Amazon's DVD on Demand service for physical copies and its Unbox service for digital downloads to rent or sell.

TFI CEO Brian Newman said the site will launch with 500 titles, and about 1,500 will be digitized within the next few months. Reframe's goal is to host 10,000 titles within the next year. Experimental works from such filmmakers as Sally Potter and Ken Jacobs, archival footage and other rare materials will be available via the site's search engine.

The nonprofit TFI and copyright holders will split the profit on digital download rentals and purchases (distributed in Windows Media Player format) evenly. DVD sales will operate under a tiered system, with 40% of $50 and under titles, 85% of $51-$200 titles and 90% of more than $200 titles going to rights holders. More expensive titles will be aimed at the educational market looking for classroom materials, though rentals in the $4 range, lasting anywhere from 36 hours-30 days, are accessible to all visitors. Buyers must have an Amazon account to make purchases.

Reframe collaborated with CreateSpace (creator of DVD on Demand technology) to develop the site. Major funding for the venture was provided by the John D. & Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.

In the coming months, Newman said he hopes to add social networking elements to the site, which is in beta. The site is one of the first TFI initiatives since the organization absorbed fellow nonprofit Renew Media this year.

New copyright agreement provides greater online access to film
Eleanor Kenny in London

A new EU-wide copyright agreement has been signed to increase the number of films made available to the public online by cultural institutions.

The films targeted are so-called "orphan works," where the true rights holders of films, music or books, are impossible to identify or locate. The problem means that rights cannot be cleared in the normal way and the works usually end up being made redundant due to the legal uncertainty.

Until now, the problem has also meant that orphan works could not be digitised or made available to the public.

The new Memorandum of Understanding agreed at EU level sets out how searches for rights holders should be handled for libraries and archives and film companies, so that such works can be made available.

It provides a long awaited solution to a very real problem for Europe’s cinematic and cultural institutions. A recent survey by the Association des Cinémathèques Européennes shows that up to 50,000 unfulfilled requests have been made to re-use orphan works in Europe’s film archives.

A British Film Institute spokesperson welcomed the new agreement, saying: "Digitisation of the BFI National Archive to broaden public access is a critical priority. We heartily welcome this declaration and the clarity it brings, particularly as we strive to preserve and make available orphan works that, without our intervention, might otherwise get left by the wayside and never be seen by the public."

The Memorandum was signed by libraries, archives and right holders bodies in front of European Commissioner for Information Society and Media, Viviane Reding. Commissioner Reding has worked to promote the digitisation and online accessibility of Europe’s film heritage through the Digital Libraries Initiative

5. Are the products for sale on Reframe licensed for usage outside of the United States?
Reframe videos are only licensed for usage in the United States, its territories and possessions (including Puerto Rico, Guam and the U.S. Virgin Islands).