SEAPAVAA Newsletter
Jan-Sep 1998

ASEAN audiovisual database on internet

Country Updates

Features

The Third SEAPAVAA General Assembly held in Hanoi, Vietnam adopted on 25 March 1998 the association's Statement on Access with the following policy and principles:

1. Legal Deposit

Recognizing that permanent access to the audiovisual heritage depends on the capacity of archives to first acquire material, SEAPAVAA affirms support for the "Recommendation for safeguarding and preservation of moving images" adopted by UNESCO on 27 October 1980, and therefore for the general principle of mandatory deposit of moving images in recognized archives for the purpose of preservation and access expressed therein.

In the particular application of this legal deposit principle in SE Asia-Pacific in the public interest, SEAPAVAA further supports:

• the inclusion of all published audiovisual materials not just moving images
• the inclusion of both government and non-government productions
• the designation of recognized audiovisual archives as beneficiaries
• the right of audiovisual archives to make professional judgements in the selection or rejection of offered material, and in taking unilateral action to ensure survival and preservation of material, in an appropriate number of copies.

2. Cooperation

Recognizing that growth of access will depend on active cooperation among audiovisual archives within the region (whether or not they are members of SEAPAVAA), SEAPAVAA affirms its support and commitment to the development of cooperative mechanisms. This will include (but not be limited to):

• exchange of staff, information, documents, and collection material
• shared databases and standardization (expanding the number of titles and institutions)
• sharing of skills, facilities, and training
• mutual collection access
• regular communication (by mail, internet, fax, personal visits, or other means)

SEAPAVAA further affirms its commitment to the retrieval of audiovisual material from abroad, and in a form (original or copies) appropriate to the capacities of the receiving institutions, so that they can be preserved and made accessible in the country of origin.

3. Finance

Recognizing that the support of audiovisual archiving work will increasingly rely on funding from non-government sources, it affirms the validity of charging fees for access to collection material at a level consistent with market norms, the services provided and the rights granted, so that the public first is fairly recompensed. It supports the validity of such funding being wholly retained by the archive concerned to support its ongoing preservation and service activities. It supports archives in resisting unfair exploitation by users.

4. Copyright and Ownership

Recognizing that copyright and intellectual property laws and regulations vary between countries within the region, and that their application and interpretation in a given situation can be uncertain, it affirms the need - in the interest of encouraging public access to the audiovisual heritage - for archives to make on-balance judgement in granting access to their collections, and to be supported in doing so. They will deal ethically and responsibly and seek to have anomalies remedied by due process. They will also accept that it is the proper role of an audiovisual archive to function as an amnesty ground and observe due confidentiality. Their professional loyalty to preservation and permanent accessibility of the heritage in the public interest will, if necessary, take precedence over other considerations.

5. Access to the Public

Recognizing that the purpose of all the foregoing activity in building, preserving, funding and managing audiovisual collections is to provide permanent access to the heritage, SEAPAVAA endorses all activity which will increase public access, both within countries and across national and geographic boundaries.

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