Guardian Unlimited | Online | Ben Hammersley: A moral imperative

But it has run into a snag. Two, actually. The first is that the existing BBC archive is full of footage where the BBC does not own the right to reuse it in this way, or where no one knows to whom the rights belong. The second is that it is unable to negotiate an agreement with independent producers, and their representative bodies, that will allow future programming to be put in the archive, too.

Because of this, the BBC must undergo a year of pilot schemes, tests and inquiries as to whether the Creative Archive might reduce a few companies’ profits before it can be allowed to produce value for the whole nation.

.. and to think how promising this all sounded ..