--- Forwarded Message from Dr Jack Burston <[log in to unmask]> --- >User-Agent: Microsoft-Entourage/9.0.1.3108 >Date: Tue, 15 Jan 2002 09:54:47 -0500 >Subject: Re: #6463 Licensing fees for Streaming Video >From: Dr Jack Burston <[log in to unmask]> >To: Language Learning and Technology International Information Forum <[log in to unmask]> >In-Reply-To: <[log in to unmask]> ------------------ Dear Joseph, You're quite right to query the licensing fee being charged to digitize the Fokus Deutsch video, all the more so in that if you read the small print you'll discover that the $400 is per semester, not per year. Needless to say, this is an exhorbitant fee considering that other textbooks (e.g. Caminos, Motifs) allow their video materials to be digitized and network distributed without cost. In fairness to McGraw-Hill, I would point out that it is the copyright holder of the video (Annenberg) that is the problem here. As you would be aware, Fokus Deutsch depends critically upon the video program, lack of access to which is a serious drawback to anyone using the textbook. I and my colleagues in German at Temple University have been trying unsuccessfully since last September to get McGraw-Hill to come up with a solution to this problem. I must say that, in the absence of any progress and being unable to afford the yearly licensing fee, serious consideration is now being given to replacing Fokus Deutsch next year. Perhaps if others using the textbook began sending that message to McGraw-Hill they might be more inclined to take action. Jack ------------ Jack Burston, Ph.D. Director of Foreign Language Instructional Technologies College of Liberal Arts Temple University Philadelphia, PA 19122