Online videos are a valuable tool and can be used very effectively to promote messages. However, the terms of use of some of third party online video providers conflict with government obligations and practice. These difficulties are not insurmountable, but you need to be aware of potential problems when assessing whether you want to include an online video on your site. The content, its distribution strategy and the proposed audience are all relevant factors in the decision. Areas to consider include:

Determine when to publish video

High-quality, accessible video can be costly and often time-consuming to produce and prepare for the web. Agencies should carefully evaluate these costs against any expected benefits. Common scenarios for use of online video include:

Instructional

Instructional videos are designed to alleviate frustration for users who may be attempting to perform a once-off, complex, or unfamiliar task related to government. They may accommodate existing textual descriptions on agency websites. If successful, agencies should see reductions in costs associated with supporting those tasks.

Educational

Government resources are frequently used in schools and other academic environments. Video-based demonstrations of government procedures, research and products can serve to increase the awareness of, and appreciation for, agencies’ work.

Promotional

Advertising campaigns typically span television, print, radio and web channels. Where a TV advertisement may already exist, or where air time may be too expensive for a smaller campaign, providing a complementary online video can be an additional way to increase the recall and effectiveness of a promotional campaign.

Presentational

Significant announcements, meetings or presentations may benefit from being broadcast as online video. If scheduled regularly, agencies should consider creating MediaRSS feeds to enable users to subscribe to recently-released material.

Embedded or self-hosted?

Depending on the intended usage of the video, developers will need to choose between several delivery mechanisms:

Self-hosted

Self-hosted videos are entirely managed by the authoring agency, and subsequently require high-bandwidth connections to be available for the agency’s web server. Some government agencies are using self-hosted embedded video players, under their own control, that allow for scrolling transcripts and a range of accessibility functions.

Embedded video

Typically hosted by a third party, embedded videos usually refer to video files and players hosted externally to an agencies’ site. The bulk of the costs involved in serving up the video and its player are borne by the third party.

Scheduled outages

In general, third party terms and conditions may state that the service provider reserves the right to interrupt, modify or discontinue aspects of its services. This can cause difficulties if you are planning a timed release of content and are unable to upload the video. Scheduled outages and maintenance may also take place at night US time — during the Australian working day.

Branding

Some third party video providers may include their own branding in their embedded video player as well as their website. This could be seen as Government endorsement of the particular service or website because the branding is automatically affixed to downloads or content from the site. As such, it may be appropriate to add a prominent link to a disclaimer which clearly states that the branding does not imply an endorsement of the third party.

Trailers, promos, links and cookies

Users have no control over the trailer videos advertised on the site. This can lead to your video being linked to inappropriate content, or content which contradicts the message your video conveys. For example a video about binge-drinking may be followed by a spoof video promoting drunkenness. Trailer videos are suggested to users on the basis of similar keyword tags used to describe the video. The experiences so far from other government agencies indicate this is sometimes not helpful and can result in contrary messages or unrelated content on the same page.

Licensing

Submitting an online video to a third party site automatically grants a broad licence to the third party and its users to reproduce, distribute and prepare derivative works of and display the video. They may be able to use any submitted video in any way whether commercial or non-commercial. You should think about whether the video would be likely to inspire spoofs and mashups, and about whether this would detract from your message. Removing the video does not necessarily remedy a situation like this. Third party licenses often do not automatically terminate once a video is removed: they may remain for an (undefined) ‘commercially reasonable amount of time’.

Accessibility

Accessibility is a fundamental aspect of multimedia content on government websites, but embedded players are not likely to meet mandatory standards for accessibility (no transcripts, subtitles etc). This is a significant and intractable problem. You should make your decision on the basis of your target audience and their accessibility requirements. If it is clear that a video originates from the government, you should consider the obligation to make the material accessible and non-discriminatory.

Terms and Conditions of Use

Online video third party service providers’ terms of use are strongly in their favour. They are aimed at denying or heavily limiting their liability to the user, and they require the user to indemnify them against loss or damage arising out of their use of the site or service. Check whether the U.S. is the relevant jurisdiction for resolving disputes. Accepting the terms of use constitutes a legally binding agreement.

Although these are similar terms to those offered by most private organisations, you should still take this into account when considering using an online video hosting service. Some Australian Government agencies have negotiated more favourable terms with third party providers. You should seek your own legal advice.

Privacy

Under the Privacy Act 1998 agencies must comply with the Information Privacy Principles (IPPs). As such, you should assess the privacy policy of any third party video provider against the IPPs. It could be necessary to warn or notify users that they are leaving the agency site to go onto a commercial site, where protection of privacy and associated matters may not be as great. Although this might protect agencies to some extent, it is not particularly helpful for community engagement.

Intellectual Property

The Intellectual Property (IP) of the Commonwealth is an asset. It must be managed and reported on in accordance with the IPPs for Australian Government Agencies. If you post content on a commercial website you must be sure you have the right to do so, as the owner or licensee of the material. You should also consider the IP policies of third party providers, which may allow acts — such as copying, redistributing or adapting the material — which may not be appropriate in all circumstances.

Many agencies are successfully using third party online video hosting services, and some have their own channels. A problem arises if their content uses actors who were contracted under advertising guidelines for a certain medium but has been extended to the internet. You need to get permissions from actors and people appearing in the videos before they are re-broadcast on video sharing websites. In the same way, for third party IP, any copyright owners must give permission to grant the licence. Once granted it may extend to whatever is deemed ‘commercially reasonable’.

Subjects:

• video
• audio
• plugins
• HTML
• Accessibility