I’ve read numerous references to Ar Lafar on the forum over the last year or so and was really disappointed that I’d missed it. If you’ve not heard of it, it’s basically a programme exploring the different dialects of Wales.
Anyway, S4C have just started repeating it on Saturday afternoons at 4pm. It doesn’t seem to be on Clic, but if you didn’t catch it on Saturday, you’ve only missed Episode 1.
Here’s an old link about the series: http://www.s4c.co.uk/ffeithiol/e_arlafar.shtml
Woo-hoo!! I’m forever bigging it up on here - I thought it was a brilliant series. It’s not on Clic, you say - that’s a shame. I can only watch S4C on catch-up (via the telly) at the moment - I’ll have to see if i can find it on there.
Couldn’t find it on the catch-up service either 
Why would they not put it on Clic I wonder. Bechod.
I suppose it’s to do with licensing, fees, and things like that. Money in other words.
I contacted S4C via twitter to ask them. Nothing so far.
Surprising, they replied to me about Y Gwyll pretty swiftly. Fingers crossed they will reply soon.
No rights to show re-broadcasts on Clic, apparently,
I thought it might have had something to do with the fact that it was a repeat. Shame though.
No rights? S4C own the shows and they own Clic, right? Well, I’d have thought.
Haven’t seen the shows, but perhaps they include clips belonging to third parties and they never sorted out rights agreements for their use online? Just a guess.
S4C doesn’t own anything - it’s just an ‘enabler’ that buys the right to show other people’s stuff. Obviously if it commissions that ‘stuff’ then it pays quite a lot, but it’s still a licence rather than ‘ownership’.
I knew that they didn’t actually produce stuff themselves, but it never occurred to me that they wouldn’t own the rights to shows they’d commissioned and subsequently been the only broadcaster of.
So this means that it’s the individual companies - in this case, Cwmni Da - who are withholding the rights for some perverse reason? Or is it simply that nobody’s gone to the trouble of explicitly granting the rights, so it’s forbidden by default?
All this stuff gives me a headache. And an even deeper sense of despair for humanity. 
Thing is, copyright law was written long before the Internet was created. The way it is written is that if something isn’t specifically permitted, it is forbidden. If S4C were to put it onto Clic, then Cwmni Da would in fact have to sue, because if they didn’t, they’d lose their copyright.
aaargghh! copyright!!! - a daily headache for me as a researcher with a certain TV company…
TV companies own the rights to the bits they film theirselves, but not the clips that come from 3rd party sources (and there are a number of these in Ar Lafar). Currently the 3rd party material licence includes 35 days online catch-up on clic but only after the 1st broadcast i.e. not repeats. Besides the fact that many sources are unwilling to licence their material ‘in perpetuity’ anyway, a licence to show 3rd party clips online everytime the series is repeated or for an unlimited or indefinite period would cost considerably more than what is available in the budget S4C provides to make the programme with.
It’s certainly not a case of the TV company witholding the rights or omitting to sort out agreements for online use - it all comes down to money available and upholding copyright law. Sorry about that!
Thanks for explaining it, Siaron. It’s a darn shame, but there we go! Hopefully they’ll repeat it again when I’m living in Wales and I can watch it in real time.
What 3rd party clips in Ar Lafar would come under this then? I remember it as mainly talking and interviews.
S4C are hopelessly behind the times on making sure they secure online rights for repeats.
I didn’t work on this particular series, but I know there is material from BBC (both TV and radio) and Ffilmiau’r Nant to name but two and of course some of the stills also fall under these licence terms.
It’s just as frustrating for us as a production company as it is for viewers!
Some good news for history fans though - a new series of ‘Darn Bach o Hanes’ will be starting on Sept.3rd, and because it’s a new series it’ll be on clic (but each part will only be up for 35 days after its first showing!)
I’m a huge Dewi Prysor fan so really looking forward to the new series. Hopefully this season I’ll follow more of his welsh accent without using subtitles…
hehe - that’s the Ffestiniog accent for you! and compared to some from the area, his is not even one of the heaviest!
Tell me about it…Meeting him face to face helped a bit. What an infividual he is.