Content on Cloud Video Services Produced by the Service Provider

Last Review

This entry was added in 2019 to represent collections that are highly significant in cultural and social terms. It was adopted as the Jury was unclear whether the content could be played outside of the producers’ publication platform, with technical dependencies between content and software amplified by rights management. The 2020 and 2021 Juries agreed with the Endangered classification, with discussions around how the growth of content produced with no or limited preservation mandate leads to greater risk. The continued scale of that growth and opacities regarding preservation by companies also led to the 2022 Taskforce noting a trend towards even greater risk. However, just as the 2022 Taskforce was completing its work, they welcomed the news of BFI taking on responsibility for the preservation of key titles from Netflix, commenting on how it represents a commitment to act on previous recommendations but not yet a ‘material improvement’ at that stage so there was no change to the 2022 trend at that time.

The 2023 Council agreed with the Endangered classification, with the overall risks remaining on the same basis as before (‘No change’ to trend). 

The 2024 interim review concluded that these risks remain on the same basis as before, with no significant trend towards even greater or reduced risk (‘No change’ to trend).

Additional Information

This entry has five aspects to consider: 1. It falls outside the scope of traditional regulatory frameworks and archiving has not yet been included in any legislative framework, unlike broadcast TV, where there is a designated archive in most developed nations. 2. As a result, the collection and preservation of content from online platforms is underdeveloped, and the content remains unavailable in public archives. 3. These risks are mitigated by the fact that the commercial archives are technologically advanced, with mature digital ecosystems and skills, and much of the content has a ‘long tail’ business model, and as commercial products have value, preservation incentives are clear. 4. However, these are often stored at scale on LTO tapes, and so specific issues arise with the obsolescence of LTO tape technologies for the broadcast sector. 5. Nonetheless, issues remain around archiving relevant assets which may not be valued by the production company.

It may also be worth considering broadening legal deposit legislation so there is a mandate to deposit this content with an appropriate repository - though the volume may be unwelcome as many institutions are under-resourced.