BBC Makes Archive Public On Internet

Nearly a hundred snippets of BBC television programming have been made available for “free public use in their own creative works.”

Lots of TV clips, mostly a few minutes in length, have been made available according to BBC News. The public can use them in creative, non-commercial ways. BBC Radio 1 has debuted a competition to create a music video using these clips, too.

There are some limitations on using the clips. They can’t be appropriated for commercial use, or for campaigning. Also, they cannot be used to defame others (though some would think this means the same thing as campaign use.)

The clips feature the type of general subjects one might expect to see in a free archive. Animals, landscapes, and artwork all can be found in the collection. The BBC envisions personal and educational uses being the main beneficiaries of the archive.

Additional material from other sources should be available soon. Places like the British Film Institute, BBC Channel 4, and others will make clips available online according to the BBC report.

The initiative hasn’t been duplicated in America, and due to the complexities of copyright law and the sky-high potential for litigation against even the most innocuous of uses, probably won’t be duplicated here anytime soon, either.

David Utter is a staff writer for WebProNews covering technology and business. Email him here.