Japanese public TV broadcaster NHK launched an online video library[J] on Saturday.
It consists of several thousands of video and sound clips collected from the broadcaster’s program archives, and any clips can be reproduced for amateur video shooters in creating their works. Wildlife pictures, sound effect items and computer graphics are available in .mp4 or .m4a format for free of charge for non-commercial use. No user registration required to download, but you’re not allowed to remove NHK’s logo superimposed in the clips for your reproduction. (Kindly note that all clips are reproduction-free but not copyright-free.)
The service is intended for teenagers, and the broadcaster expects it put creativity, visual literacy and copyright awareness in their minds before being adults. All videos reproduced from the service are completely allowed to be put on your blog and video sharing sites, and the library site also has a feature allowing you to share reproduced videos with your friends online.
“Any video and sound clips were developed since our viewers kindly have paid for, that’s why we should set our assets free for the public benefits.”, NHK says. The broadcaster is often accused of scandal probe by Japanese nationals/viewers because every household is obliged to pay TV license fee as defined in a law, as though it were tax payment.
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Nov. 4th Update:
Due to the system heavy load that a higher-than-expected number of user browsing requests has caused, NHK Creative Library is currently down for system upgrade. Re-opening date is not announced so far.
Masaru IKEDA