Code of Conduct for Access to Audiovisual Archives

FIAT/IFTA TELEVISION STUDIES WORKGROUP
Code of Conduct for access to broadcasting
archives by academics

The FIAT/IFTA Television Studies Workgroup was established to consider questions relating to the academic study of material held in television archives, particularly the question of access to those holdings for study purposes.

From discussions at both the FIAT/IFTA Conference and various television studies conferences and from questionnaires circulated, it seems that there are various problems on both sides which need to be addressed, though the value of academic research into television istory and the need to facilitate it are recognised.

By way of addressing the various problems encountered, this Code of Conduct is offered in the hope that it may lead to a breakdown of suspicion and an improvement in the access to their archives allowed by broadcasters.

THE CODE OF CONDUCT
The academic community accepts:

1. That much of the material held in broadcast archives is single-copy master material and that, in the interest of the continuing preservation of that material, access should be restricted to duplicate or viewing copies only.

2. That, in the case of no duplicate or viewing copies existing of any particular item or items, the broadcaster is justified in requesting payment of up to half the cost of creating such a copy or copies which should remain the property of the broadcaster after viewing.

3. That, where the broadcaster deems it necessary, access should be supervised by the broadcasting archive staff in order to avoid possible damage to the material being viewed. This is intended to apply particularly to material being viewed on film.

4. That it is the researcher's obligation to observe any copyright or legal limitations placed on material.

5. That broadcast archives are busy organisations designed for the purpose of supplying material for broadcast purposes and that any research access will of necessity be of secondary importance and thus subject to practical working limitations and delays.

6. That it is more convenient for television material to be supplied for academic research purposes through national or educational archives and that the academic community should press for the establishment of such archives where they do not exist and for the expansion of their access possibilities where they do.

7. That broadcasters' own material should not be sent or taken outside their premises unless they agree either to loan material or make copies for the applicant, for which they are entitled to charge a fee.

8. That research may need to be carried out on uncatalogued collections and that providing a catalogue of material viewed may be requested by the broadcaster as a condition of access.

The broadcasters accept:
1. That the material they hold in their archives is of historical, social and cultural importance and that the academic community has a legitimate claim on access to it for research purposes. This would be best supplied by national or educational archives established for this purpose, but, where these do not exist, the responsibility lies with the broadcasters.

2. That such access should be allowed where possible, within the restrictions of operational necessities.

3. That those requiring such access will not be able to pay commercial rates and that any charges should thus be kept as low as possible. In the case of viewing material requiring to be made to satisfy a research access request the broadcaster should pay a minumum of half the cost of any transfer needed in those cases where it will retain that material for its future use.

4. That they should be prepared to publicise their willingness to allow access to academics, at least through the auspices of the Television Studies Workgroup. If they have an arrangement for access through a national or educational archive, they should publicise this service.

5. That they should not attempt to influence the contents or the results of academic research on their output, nor should they deny an access request on the basis of the subject being studied.

6. That they should co-operate where possible with national and educational archives in a position to offer academic access to television material and should support the establishment of such archives where they do not exist. They should seek out such partners if this offers a better solution to the problems of access than they are able to provide themselves.

The FIAT/IFTA Television Studies Workgroup intends to maintain a register of all academics who wish to use television archives and who support this Code of Conduct and a register of all FIAT/IFTA-member broadcasters who are prepared to allow access to their holdings under these conditions.

The registered broadcasters should then allow access to their holdings to any academics on the register under mutually agreed terms within the framework of the Code of Conduct.

Steve Bryant
Chair FIAT/IFTA Television Studies Work group.