A Late Call

[Tony Pendrey]

Does anyone remember this TV adaptation of the Angus Wilson novel ? It was shown on BBC2 in 1975. I remember just how good it was. Very poignant, with some great music by Dudley Simpson. Dennis Potter had a hand in adapting it for the small screen and it shows. The wonderful Dandy Nichols had a chance to do some proper acting. I wonder if it has survived in some format ?

[Wetherby Pond]

A broadcast-quality copy of the complete four-part series is held by the National Film and Television Archive.

[Tony Pendrey]

Thanks for that info Wetherby, or do I call you Mr. Pond ?

How do I go about persuading them to release it, re-broadcast it, or make me a copy ?

Nice to know it survives, though.

Cheers !

[Wetherby Pond]

Originally posted by Tony Pendrey@Mar 15 2005, 10:46 PM How do I go about persuading them to release it, re-broadcast it, or make me a copy ? <div align="right">Quoted post</div>

The NFTVA doesn't have that kind of authority - it's licenced to permit private research viewing by appointment on approved premises, but any public broadcast or commercial distribution requires the permission of the copyright holder, which is presumably still the BBC.

As to how you persuade them, I've no idea - buy lots of their Dennis Potter DVDs to convince them that it's worth releasing more in a similar vein?

[Tony Pendrey]

Thanks again, Mr. Pond. Well, I have purchased all the Dennis Potter stuff I can afford. And it's not worth waiting around for some kind of retrospective season on TV. I live in hope that one day soon the technology will enable us to access these visual archives, otherwise what is the point of "archiving" anyway.

Cheers !

[Wetherby Pond]

Originally posted by Tony Pendrey@Mar 15 2005, 11:15 PM Thanks again, Mr. Pond. Well, I have purchased all the Dennis Potter stuff I can afford. And it's not worth waiting around for some kind of retrospective season on TV. I live in hope that one day soon the technology will enable us to access these visual archives, otherwise what is the point of "archiving" anyway. <div align="right">Quoted post</div>

It's not really a question of technology – or rather, the technology exists right now.

The major obstacle is a horrendous tangle of legal issues: mostly copyright, but also union agreements involving Equity (actors) and the Performing Rights Society (composers and musicians) and similar bodies, all of whom have a say in what gets distributed to whom.

In order to do what you're proposing, you'd have to reach agreements with both the copyright holders and every other relevant party, and you'd have to persuade each of them to agree to allow the downloading/streaming of this material. Even if such agreements could be reached in the first place, they would almost certainly only apply to the UK, as different companies would probably own the rights elsewhere.

There are numerous initiatives trying to push things along in the direction you're suggesting – both the BBC and BFI have various projects on the go (the Creative Archive, Screenonline) - but significant compromises have already had to be made (the Creative Archive is much smaller than originally envisaged and includes virtually no drama; the video material on Screenonline is restricted to recognised educational establishments).

I'm sure there will be some major reforms in this area over the next few years, as this kind of thing is what broadband technology was made for, and there's widespread agreement that this is an opportunity that needs to be grasped - but a change in existing copyright laws will probably be required as an absolute minimum, as well as some very delicate negotiations.

In other words, if you want a guaranteed (extremely) well-paid job in the British film and television industry, go into intellectual property law - it's a massive growth area at the moment, and it's unlikely to dwindle any time soon!

[Tony Pendrey]

On a simplistic level, in the modern era, one would hope that legal agreements are drawn up before production commences. It shouldn't be too difficult for all parties to agree beforehand just exactly how the finished work is distributed and who owns the rights. But then of course, somebody will dispute it !

[Wetherby Pond]

Originally posted by Tony Pendrey@Mar 16 2005, 01:58 PM On a simplistic level, in the modern era, one would hope that legal agreements are drawn up before production commences. It shouldn't be too difficult for all parties to agree beforehand just exactly how the finished work is distributed and who owns the rights. But then of course, somebody will dispute it ! <div align="right">Quoted post</div>

Modern production contracts are unbelievably comprehensive in terms of specifying rights across different media and territories - I came across one once that used the phrase "throughout the known universe!" - but this only applies to relatively recent productions: we're much savvier about these things today.

But the legal situation gets much messier if you're dealing with older titles - and by "older" I mean "not actually that old". A mid-1970s BBC production, for instance, would originally have been made solely with the intention of broadcasting it a couple of times and possibly selling it to a foreign broadcaster - things like video rights and online rights weren't an issue.

But thanks to the way copyright works, they are an issue now: just because the digital rights holder wasn't specified at the time doesn't mean that no-one holds those rights, and of course organisations like Equity (who amongst other things administers repeat fees) want their slice of the cake as well, as their original agreements were also based on the assumption that there would only be one or two broadcasts.

This, incidentally is why some video releases of older TV shows have had to be modified, because certain rights (usually music) were only cleared for the original broadcast - clearing them for commercial release is a much more expensive proposition, sometimes so much so that it's not considered financially viable.

There's an illustration of the problem in this article, written shortly after Greg Dyke's announcement of the BBC's Creative Archive project (scroll down to the heading "Surfing with dinosaurs"). This is the relevant bit:

There are of course difficulties with the plan. The BBC can of course only make available material to which it owns the copyright. Then there is the issue of not impacting on commercial revenues and restricting webcasts to the UK. Not that satellite transmissions appear to concern upper BBC management. The actors' union Equity is not happy either saying there was no consultation ahead of the announcement or with the Writers Guild or Musicians Union. Dyke’s example focussed on the educational benefits of "opening up the archive", but television news illustrated its piece with an excerpt from the comedy Only Fools and Horses, and remember Walking with Dinosaurs was narrated by the actor Kenneth Branagh.