Penguin Random House New Zealand open licence: online story time and read-aloud videos and live events

In order to support bookstores, schools and public libraries forced to close by the escalating COVID-19 outbreak, Penguin Random House New Zealand is permitting teachers, librarians and booksellers to create and share story time and read-aloud videos and live events, according to the following terms:

For Teachers and Educators providing distance learning to students in a virtual classroom setting:

• Story time or classroom read-aloud videosin which a Penguin Random House New Zealand book is read aloud and the book is displayed (for picture books) may be created and posted to closed educational platforms such as Google Classroom, Schoology, Edmodo and Discovery Education, in order to replicate the read-aloud book experience that would otherwise be available to educators in the classroom.

• If a Teacher or Educator plans to share a story time video by recording a video, uploading it to a YouTube channel, and posting a link to that YouTube video inside a closed educational platform, that YouTube video must be designated as “Unlisted” (not “Public”) when uploading.

• Please also ensure you set videos as ‘made for kids’ as this will meet YouTube requirements for compliance with the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) and/or other laws. This can be done at a channel and specific video setting level. For more information, see here.

For Booksellers and Librarians who wish to provide a story time reading or other read-aloud experience to young people who would otherwise visit the library or bookstore in person:

• Story time or read-aloud live events in which a Penguin Random House New Zealand book is read out loud and the book is displayed (for picture books) may be streamed live, in real time, on social media platforms such as YouTube, Facebook Live, Twitter, and Instagram.

• These story time or read-aloud live events may not be maintained in the archive of the social media platform and appropriate measures should be taken to ensure that videos of the live events are not retained. Because these platforms automatically archive live events by default, when your event has concluded, please locate the recorded live video in your account (YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc.) and delete it. Please use technology that does not allow the video content you are creating to be downloaded by the public. You can use Zoom, Facebook Live, Vimeo, and YouTube as well as others. It may be necessary to adjust the default settings to prevent users from downloading your broadcast.

• Please also ensure you set videos as ‘made for kids’ as this will meet YouTube requirements for compliance with the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) and/or other laws. This can be done at a channel and specific video setting level. For more information, see here. 

For all parties:

1. Teachers, librarians, and booksellers agree to provide bibliographic details of the featured book with any published recording, including the title, author, illustrator and publisher, plus a clear picture of the cover.

2. This policy is temporary and will remain in force whilst New Zealand is at Level 3 of COVID-19. Once this period has ended, teachers, librarians and booksellers agree to destroy all recordings, and take down any online recordings.

3.These guidelines do not apply to storytimes for books that were published outside New Zealand. If teachers, librarians and booksellers wish to create a storytime using an international book title, then permission from the originating publisher should be sought.

4. Confirm this is agreeable by emailing Communications@penguinrandomhouse.co.nz with your name, email, address of library/school/store, the title, author and ISBN of the book you will be reading, and what platform you plan to do the reading on.