ITN Source Joins The Creative Archive Licence Group

ITN Source, formerly ITN Archive, the world’s fastest growing commercial moving image provider, has become a partner of The Creative Archive Licence Group.
Under the Creative Archive initiative, ITN Source will make available some of its 700,000 hours of archive content for free download to the public for home and personal use.
ITN Source joins a host of national broadcasters and other moving image and sound archives involved in the initiative. As a key partner member, ITN Source cements its commitment to enabling wider accessibility to its unrivalled collection of moving image content, as well as confirming its status as a leader in the development of the global archive footage industry.
ITN Source has already made significant advances in making its content available to a wider audience through the National Lottery funded British Pathé website - www.britishpathe.com - where members of the public can download news clips for personal use. In addition, earlier this year ITN struck a deal with Google to provide specially selected content to North American and European consumers through its innovative Google Video service.
In a speech, David Puttnam, Lord Puttnam of Queensgate, lent his support for the scheme and called for a new form of “public lending right”, likening it to a public library system, which could provide a fixed revenue stream to underlying rights holders.
Mark Wood, Chief Executive, ITN, said: “ITN Source is delighted to become a member of The Creative Archive Licence Group, joining an impressive rostrum of key media players. As a global leader in the provision of content, our participation in the Creative Archive initiative will allow us to promote creativity by sharing our vast array of video archives with a wider audience, whilst continuing to operate as one of the world’s most successful commercial footage licensing businesses.”
Formed in April 2005, The Creative Archive Licence Group was founded by the BBC, the British Film Institute, Channel 4 and The Open University. Other recent members to join the partnership include Teachers’ TV, the Community Channel and the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council. At the end of September the BBC will complete its initial pilot phase of the Creative Archive, and in the autumn, plans to put its role in the new service through a public value test.
(CD)