Hans Kohl

In 2013, the ZDF enacted new guidelines that enable research- and science-based projects to access the ZDF’s archives under certain conditions. However, within the cultural and non-commercial domains, it remains exceedingly difficult and often unaffordable to present, purchase, or distribute television broadcasts or films from the ARD or ZDF archives in educational institutions.

Hans Kohl worked for many years in the feature film department of the Leo Kirch film licensing agency and today is a production manager in the Film, Television, and Radio department of the Goethe-Institut headquarters in Munich. He explains why the Goethe-Institut prefers not to purchase broadcasts that are produced under publicly regulated provisions, and why this common practice poses fundamental questions for archival policy.