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Criterion on Demand Renewal 2015-2016

Response Deadline: 
September 17, 2015

Subscription Term

Begins: 

October 1, 2015

Ends: 

September 30, 2016

BC ELN is pleased to offer a licence for Criterion on Demand, a streaming media service offering access to over 2,000 major motion pictures (largely Hollywood films). This license is made available through a national site license negotiated on behalf of Consortia Canada by the Ontario Colleges Library Service (OCLS).


Updates: 

UPDATE SEPT 10: MARC records now available.

Temporary removal of approximately 500 titles: In spring 2015, a film studio temporarily withdrew approximately 500 titles from the CoD platform. Criterion continues to work with the studio to have the titles restored.

Change in renewal date: Existing subscribers will receive the month of September 2015 free, due to the removed titles. The new renewal date is October 1.

Price reduction: Prices have fallen by approximately 5% net this year:

  • As additional compensation for the removed titles, pricing has been reduced by 15%.
  • Last year's 10% discount, a temporary deal for early subscribers, no longer applies.

Access methods: As discussed earlier this year, access in the future will be offered via the website on campus only, and via MARC records both on and off campus. This solution has not been yet been implemented, and so until further notice subscribers can continue to offer access via the website both on and off campus.

Improved MARC records: Based on feedback from subscribing ConCan member libraries, Criterion outsourced the creation of their MARC records to MARC4media. The records are now ready and will be made available via a page on the Criterion website. You can find them for now here.

New titles: Approximately 150 new titles have been added to the collection. Criterion is attempting to have another 300 new titles loaded to the platform by the end of the calendar year.


Overview

Platform: 
Criterion-on-Demand
Remote Access
Unlimited Access

Additional Information

Access:

Unlimited access via IP address authentication both on and off-campus. For now the vendor has committed to allowing off-campus access. Usage will be monitored. This decision may be re-evaluated if signs of abuse appear. Downloading films to a laptop for later viewing is also possible.

EZproxy config info is available at https://pluto.potsdam.edu/ezproxywiki/index.php/Category:Example_Configurations#Criterion-on-Demand

Access to the streaming media films is available through links in the MARC records or through a link to the CoD platform at this time. However, access via the CoD platform for remote access may be limited to access via MARC records in the future.

Microsoft Silverlight player is required to view films, which are available for streaming or as downloads. When downloading a film to a computer for later viewing with the Silverlight player, the film will "expire" (cannot be viewed) 48 hours after download.

Supporting Documentation:

Additional Implementation Details:

1. Title Requests

Criterion is willing to add new titles to the platform at the request of libraries. Criterion must already hold the Canadian rights for the film/studio in question. The request form is on the right side of this page:
http://www.criterionondemand.com/why-criterion-on-demand/large-film-library

2. MARC Records

Access to the films is via links embedded in MARC records. A .mrc file of MARC records (3.4 M) is available at http://eln.bc.ca/uploads/mrc999.mrc I'm working with the vendor on a procedure for updating records as new content is added.

Although the website lists all the films, Criterion has chosen not to add direct links to play the films. This is a deliberate decision to distinguish this educational market product from other consumer platforms.

3. Title Lists

The title list has been added as a 274 page PDF above. The website also has excellent search and browse features.

4. Silverlight

In order to play films, the user must have the Silverlight browser plug-in installed. This is a DRM system which is designed to prevent mis-use of the digital content. Silverlight is free and takes only a few minutes to download and install. Silverlight is compatible with a wide variety of operating systems and browsers including:

  • Internet Explorer 8+, Firefox 12+, Chrome 12+, Safari 4+
  • Windows 7+, Mac 10.5+

Not every browser and OS combination is compatible. Please see the System Requirements tab on http://www.microsoft.com/getsilverlight/Get-Started/Install/Default.aspx for more details.

5. Downloading Films

In addition to streaming films, it is also possible to download films for later viewing. This may be useful for a classroom with poor or no internet access. Access to a downloaded film will expire after 48 hours. [to be confirmed] See the guide (linked above) for details.

Frequently Asked Questions:

The following are some of the questions asked by libraries and consortia as the trial has progressed.

What if two students want to stream the same film at the same time?

They'll both get to watch it.  This is an unlimited streaming service. Criterion believes they have sufficient bandwidth and server capacity to support many simultaneous streams of the same or different films.

The licence says in 2(b) "personal, non-commercial and educational or research viewing". What exactly does that mean?

The licence is for educational use. Here are some examples of permitted uses:

  • the instructor shows a film to students in the classroom or in the library's showing room
  • the instructor tells students to watch the film (on or off campus) over the weekend and come to the next class prepared to discuss it
  • the instructor gives students a “reading list” of 10 films and tells them to watch one (or more) and write an essay about it
  • a masters student doing thesis on a famous director repeatedly views films by that director 

Here are some examples which are NOT educational use and would not be permitted:

  • the university holds an event open to the public and wants to stream a film from the CoD platform
  • a student club wants to hold a movie night on campus and stream the film via CoD

However, note the question below about the Criterion Entertainment PPR licence. If a school has the Entertainment PPR licence, the above two examples would be permitted.

My school has the Criterion Public Performance Rights (PPR) licence which allows for Entertainment uses. Does that expand the use(s) they may make of the CoD service?

Yes. The Entertainment PPR licence requires that the film being shown is a legitimate copy (i.e. purchased by library, the instructor's personal copy, etc.), not an illegal copy. The CoD platform is a legitimate source for films. Note that the Entertainment PPR licence only covers on-campus viewing. Off campus entertainment use is never permitted.

Do the films have Closed Captioning (CC)?

No, but most films have subtitles. Subtitling may not meet accessibility requirements. The vendor states they're working on CC, but it is expensive and will not be complete anytime soon.

Yes. Libraries can use whatever local access tools they wish to handle the MARC records, including the ILS and other such tools. Instructors can then freely copy those links into Learning Management Systems or online syllabi as desired. 

Are usage statistics are available?

Yes, Criterion automatically generates monthly usage statistics for each subscribing institution and sends them out on the first Monday of the month to the library contact on file.

Questions? Contact: 
Brandon Weigel