BBC agrees interactive rights deal

The BBC has agreed a deal which will see producers of interactive content keep rights to their own ideas.

The agreement puts them on more of a par with traditional television producers and will now be the starting point for commissioning of interactive material.

Pact, the independent producers industry body, hailed it as "groundbreaking" and said it would be boost to the new media content market.

Andrew Chitty, who is chairman of Pact's interactive media policy group and managing director of Illumina Digital , commented: "As with television this shifts the interactive indie business model from old style agency/cost plus to one based on IP (intellectual property) generation.

"It's also the first step in creating a real secondary market in interactive content and we're delighted that the BBC is leading the way."

BBC head of rights and business affairs added James Lancaster added: "While this is still a very emergent market, it marks a positive step towards finding established ways of working in this area.

"This new media framework is part of the BBC's determination to work with the industry to put in place modern, flexible arrangements that reflect the new ways content is produced in an online, multi-platform world."