Depositors: Introduction | Film Search | Recent Acquisitions

Introduction

Unlike books and periodicals, there is no legal requirement for film and television material to be deposited in an archive and preserved for future generations.  Therefore we depend on organisations and individuals being prepared to deposit their holdings voluntarily. We are very interested in acquiring a wide range of material relevant to the region including:

• Regional television productions;
• Industrial films and videos;
• Promotional films and videos, including commercials;
• Educational and training films and videos;
• Films and videos produced by community groups and political organisations;
• Amateur film ('home movies').

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Preservation and Access

If you have any films and videos such as these, or even if they don’t fit into these categories, material which you feel should be preserved for future generations, then please contact us. In particular, please look at our film search page, which details footage that we are especially interested in finding. Depositing your films and videotapes in an archive will safeguard their long term preservation and also allow researchers and the public to use this resource for generations to come.  At the NRFTA, we aim to achieve the highest possible standards of conservation whilst also encouraging the widest possible access to our holdings. This includes:

• Repairing deposited elements and, where necessary, making preservation copies prior to storage;
• Storage in a temperature and humidity controlled vault appropriate to the film’s type and condition;
• Where possible, obtaining permission from the depositor and/or the copyright owner to ensure that the deposited materials can be used for research and educational purposes without restriction;
• Cataloguing and shotlisting of the material in order to facilitate its use.

Depending on how relevant your films or videotapes are to the area we cover, we may refer you to one of the other regional or national moving image archives (if so, we would be happy to make contact on your behalf). We have an acquisition policy, which sets out in detail the materials we can and cannot accept for deposit.

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The Deposit Process

If you wish to deposit materials with us and we accept them for acquisition, the deposit process is as follows.

• We will review the content of the materials you offer to us, and make a decision as to whether or not they fall within our acquisition policy. If they do, we will proceed with the process. If they don't, we will offer to work with you to try and find another, more suitable archive to take care of your material.
• We will formally 'acquisition' each item (assign it a unique identification number and enter a record on our database) and carry out an initial technical and content examination of deposited materials to ascertain what their conservation needs are.
• When this process is complete we will send you a deposit agreement and schedule (see ‘contracts and copyright’ below). If you have any concerns over the provisions of the agreement we would be happy to discuss them at this stage;
• When we have received your signed deposit agreement we will begin the conservation and cataloguing work. This includes any repairs to and copying of your films or videotapes which are deemed necessary to safeguard their long-term preservation. The material will also be viewed by a member of the NRFTA’s staff, who will then prepare a ‘shotlist’ (a detailed, written description of a film’s content) which is entered into our database.  This shotlist provides the basic information which researchers will use prior to viewing.

A collection of films being assessed for acquisition

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Contracts and Copyright

The Copyright, Designs and Patents Act (1988, as amended 1996 and 2003) is designed to safeguard the ‘intellectual property rights’ of individuals and organisations who produce films and other moving image material. In particular this means that ownership of a physical element does not necessarily include ownership of the right to copy and show the moving images recorded on it. We realise that in many cases depositors may not own the copyright to the material they are depositing, and our standard deposit agreement for this scenario provides for the NRFTA accepting full responsibility for the observance of any copyright which may subsist in the deposited material. In cases where the depositor does own the copyright, we would ask that depositors consider donating that copyright it to the NRFTA in order that we may make preservation copies, allow access to the material and license its use by broadcasters and programme makers. The NRFTA is a not-for-profit organisation, and all the revenue we generate from commercial licensing is ploughed straight back into our preservation and access work.

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Do I Get a Video?

A DVD copy (we cannot provide viewing copies on VHS) of deposited material which has been formally acquisitioned will be provided to depositors, if it does not endanger preservation and where (if necessary) permission of the copyright owner has been obtained. Please note, though, that we cannot offer a commercial film-to-video copying service, except when we provide copies of deposited material to the depositor and/or copyright owner. If you wish to have your films transferred to video but are not interested in depositing them with us, then we recommend the following companies:

• For transferring 8mm, Super 8mm and 16mm films to VHS or DVD for domestic purposes: We recommend The Widescreen Centre. They are a lot cheaper than the professional post-production facilities houses used by the broadcast industry, and will produce perfectly adequate copies for home viewing.
• For transferring 8mm, Super 8mm, 16mm and 35mm to broadcast standard formats for professional use: We recommend The Machine Room, or, for transferring films which are very old or in poor condition, Prestech.
• For transferring 9.5mm to VHS or DVD for domestic purposes: Please go to this page for a list of relevant contacts.
• For transferring 9.5mm to broadcast standard formats: BBC Resources can do this using a specially modified Cintel Mk. III telecine at their London studio. But be warned, they're expensive! For more information please contact the Telecine team on .
• For copying obsolete videotape formats onto current ones and/or DVD: There are a number of companies, organisations and individuals which offer these services, which are too numerous to list here. How difficult and expensive it will be to get your tape copied depends largely on the format and its physical condition. We suggest that you look at our obsolete video FAQ first, but please feel free to contact us if you need help finding someone who can deal with a specific format.

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A Word of Warning

From time to time, TV production companies and other organisations take out adverts in the press or make appeals on local radio, inviting members of the public to send in their home movies for use in a forthcoming programme. They will usually offer you a VHS or DVD copy of your footage in return. Some of these companies are responsible organisations and will deal with you fairly, providing a high quality copy, handling your original materials carefully and returning them after use. We have mounting evidence that others, sadly, will rip you off, and that the reason they're asking the public directly for footage is that they're trying to avoid paying an archive the going commercial rate to license similar material. We have heard of incidents in which production companies have tried to make members of the public sign over the copyright in their films, or even indemnify the company against any legal implications arising from the broadcast of their footage. In many cases, they're not interested in looking after your material in the long-term, or even providing public access - they're only interested in making money, by using your footage in a documentary production. The NRFTA, therefore, advises extreme caution for anyone who is thinking about responding to one of the advertisements. In particular, we suggest that you take the following steps:

• Ask the advertiser for what purpose they are soliciting footage from the public.
• Take advice from a professional film researcher as to what the commercial going rate is for their intended usage, were they to license similar footage from an archive or stock shot library. You can contact a professional film researcher via the Federation of Commercial Audiovisual Libraries. If the advertiser is willing to provide you with a video copy, it might be fair for you to charge them a reduced rate which reflects the cost of providing this service.
• Scrutinise any contract or agreement which the advertiser sends you very carefully, taking legal advice if necessary. Bear in mind that if you sign anything which passes copyright to the advertiser, you've effectively given away your films forever - such an agreement probably cannot be undone. We would suggest that you only grant the advertiser a fixed-term licence to use your footage, and for the intended purpose only. We would also suggest that you insist that the advertiser indemnifies you against any legal consequences of broadcasting or otherwise using your footage.
• Ask the advertiser which company will carry out the telecine (film-to-video transfer) work, and what experience they have in handing old and fragile film elements.
• Ensure that the advertiser will return your films to you after the production is complete, and specify a return date in any agreement or contract.
• When the production is complete, please consider depositing your films with a public sector archive, whose first and foremost aim will be to preserve them for future generations.

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What Do I Do Next?

Please contact the NRFTA for an initial discussion about the material you would like to deposit.