One of the most exciting developments in the past year or so has been the release of part/s of the BBC archive/s online under what is know as a Creative Archive licence. Bascally what this means, is that anyone can download a digitised film or television production and re-use it under certain conditions. What a bold gift to the nation!
The BBC, the bfi, Channel 4 and the Open University set up the Creative Archive Licence Group in April 2005 to make their content available for download under the terms of the Creative Archive Licence, a single, shared user licence scheme for the downloading of moving images, audio and stills (link ).
BBC launches local archives
The BBC has opened its archive of news clips from Devon, Cornwall, Lincolnshire and Humberside, so that users can freely download and keep more than 100 clips for their own personal use.
The released clips feature key moments in local history such as dramatic scenes from the miners' strikes, incredible shots of the Torrey Canyon disaster, shocking images of devastating flooding in Boscastle and Lincolnshire, and emotional scenes as Falklands soldiers come home to their families.
The archive also contains interviews with celebrities such as The Beatles and key political figures such as Harold Wilson and Arthur Scargill. There are also nostalgic gems like footage of holiday makers at a Torquay holiday camp, stockbrokers – complete with bowler hats and rolled umbrellas – skating to work during the big freeze of 1963 and a 1964 TV report about the new fashion for boys to have long hair!
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