BBC’s Leap of Faith

In what is believed to be a groundbreaking move for a major national broadcaster, the BBC has released more than 100 clips from its television archive to the public, for use by anyone who wants to download, remix, or sample them. The “rip, mix, and share” idea was launched in conjunction with a BBC Radio 1 contest encouraging listeners to design their own music video, but the implications for broadcasters as a whole are far greater than a simple video challenge. Where most content providers make a point of zealously protecting their copyrighted content and even taking legal action against anyone “sampling” from such work, the BBC has made a conscious decision to encourage the public sharing of its archival material.