Can someone tell me why......

stairwaystairway Posts: 1,500
Forum Member
✭✭✭
Can someone tell me why when i'm on the BBC website watchng tv, and waiting to watch a program to start I get a blank screen with " Sorry, for legal reasons we can't play this programme here.
But you can watch it on your tv " This happens when I want to watch Question of Sport and some other programmes.

Comments

  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 7,488
    Forum Member
    stairway wrote: »
    Can someone tell me why when i'm on the BBC website watchng tv, and waiting to watch a program to start I get a blank screen with " Sorry, for legal reasons we can't play this programme here.
    But you can watch it on your tv " This happens when I want to watch Question of Sport and some other programmes.

    With a Question of Sport there's probably legal complications to do with the sports highlights and clips. Whilst the broadcasters have agreements to share clips and the like, the online rights holder may be different, and it could potentially be harder or simply too time consuming to reach an agreement with all the necessary parties.

    You could potentially make an argument for fair use with Question of Sport (fair use laws generally protect the use of copyrighted works for comment and review), but I imagine the BBC wants to be safe rather than sorry.
  • Steve9214Steve9214 Posts: 8,402
    Forum Member
    With a Question of Sport there's probably legal complications to do with the sports highlights and clips. Whilst the broadcasters have agreements to share clips and the like, the online rights holder may be different, and it could potentially be harder or simply too time consuming to reach an agreement with all the necessary parties.

    You could potentially make an argument for fair use with Question of Sport, but I imagine the BBC wants to be safe rather than sorry.

    Music rights cause issues as well.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 7,488
    Forum Member
    Steve9214 wrote: »
    Music rights cause issues as well.

    I thought the BBC had fairly wide ranging licences to prevent music rights being an issue. Obviously it's a lot harder to do with sport, because organisations don't tend to band together in the same way music publishers have with PRS.
  • zsb37105qtyzzsb37105qtyz Posts: 1,488
    Forum Member
    ✭✭✭
    Also, on certain shows they change the actors/actresses too. I was watching Speaking Our Language and before one of the segments of the show, it said "the character __ is being played by ___ for legal reasons".
  • carl.waringcarl.waring Posts: 35,579
    Forum Member
    ^ That makes no sense. They can't just re-shoot a whole programme with a different actor in one role "for legal reasons"!

    I can only assume I'm missing something :confused:

    ETA: Okay I checked out the programme and now assume that the replacement actor was only ever shot in close-up or with just them on camera. Which makes more sense :)
  • rkolsenrkolsen Posts: 140
    Forum Member
    Also, on certain shows they change the actors/actresses too. I was watching Speaking Our Language and before one of the segments of the show, it said "the character __ is being played by ___ for legal reasons".

    I'm here in the US so I am geo blocked from accessing iPlayer. But the only show I could find with that title is a show that teaches people to speak Scottish Gaelic. I don't see why their would be a need to change actors if it is an educational show.

    As for sports rights here in the US most current contracts prohibit on demand/replays of entire games or highlights. Games and their highlights can be streamed live but the stations can't archive them. The major sports networks generally don't block their live streams when they broadcast game content but most local stations choose to err on the side of caution and block entire sports segments. The main reason has to deal with money where the leagues want fans to either to to their own ad supported site or for people to pay for a premium service. I believe certain networks like ESPN have negotiated new contracts specifically for highlights.
  • davelovesleedsdavelovesleeds Posts: 22,358
    Forum Member
    ✭✭✭
    NBC Nightly News not with Brian Williams often has a caption saying something along the lines 'this section can't be shown for legal reasons' or something similar.(UK broadcast)

    It is often sports. During the World Cup last year the programme wasn't even broadcast in the UK and I think it's the same during Wimbledon too.
  • technologisttechnologist Posts: 13,334
    Forum Member
    ✭✭
    rkolsen wrote: »
    . I don't see why their would be a need to change actors if it is an educational show. .
    Could be that the actor asserted their moral rights ...
    Thus happens not infrequently as the charecter portrayed or performance given does not match with what the actor now feels is his or her image.
  • JohnbeeJohnbee Posts: 4,019
    Forum Member
    ✭✭✭
    This might not be relevant but I will chuck it in. I think a large proportion of people record just about everything they ever watch. Of course non-license payers can see things on line, and it is easy to record everything. So it might be that they could be accused of aiding fee-dodgers. Or something.
Sign In or Register to comment.