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Criterion on Demand Renewal 2019-2020

Response Deadline: 
September 17, 2019

Subscription Term

Begins: 

October 1, 2019

Ends: 

September 30, 2020

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 Alberta Library (TAL).


Updates: 
  • New titles and MARC records are added 4 times per year – the next update will be in September and should add approximately 60 new titles.
  • Access restrictions for Fox titles remain in place as per Criterion's distribution agreement.
  • New studio added: Pacific Northwest Pictures. Titles from them will be in addition to the aforementioned 60 new titles.
  • Support for playback on mobile devices is in development and should be available in the new year.
  • Site and server upgrades are scheduled before the new year with an aim to increase page load speeds and reduce access and authentication times during high usage periods.

June 2020:

Fox has agreed to provide remote access to their titles until December 31, 2020 in consideration of the COVID-19 pandemic.


Overview

Platform: 
Criterion-on-Demand
Remote Access
Unlimited Access

Additional Information

Access:

Supporting Documentation:

​Additional Implementation Details:

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 available at: http://www.criterionondemand.com/about-criterion-on-demand/title-suggestions

When Criterion receives a new title request for CoD, they advise that it will be considered for inclusion in the next batch content update. Content updates usually are uploaded twice per year (occasionally quarterly if there are many titles). If it is a rush request, Criterion will offer to add a single title within 10-business days for a admin/lab fee of $105. When rush requests are uploaded they do not include a MARC record – the MARC record will come with the next batch content update.

Title Lists

An up to date title list is available on the CoD eResource page. The website also has excellent search and browse features.

 

Silverlight

In order to play films in Internet Explorer 11 on the Windows 7 operating system, the user must have the Silverlight browser plug-in installed. This is a DRM system which is designed to prevent misuse of the digital content. Silverlight is free and takes only a few minutes to download and install.

Most other browsers do not require Silverlight.

Frequently Asked Questions:

The following are some of the questions asked by libraries and consortia as the subscription 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.

Can the MARC records be loaded to a knowledge base or discovery layer?

  • 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