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BBC Sound Effects: Licence Summary and Justifications

Murmur integrates a search interface over the BBC Sound Effects catalogue, allowing GMs to find and link BBC-hosted audio directly into their game sessions. This document records the relevant licence terms, our compliance measures, and justifications for each aspect of the integration.

Licence Documents

Catalogue Metadata (Descriptions, Categories, IDs)

Licence: Open Government Licence v3.0 Permissions: Copy, publish, distribute, transmit, adapt, and exploit the metadata (commercially and non-commercially) with attribution. Our use: We fetch a CSV of the BBC Sound Effects catalogue (descriptions, categories, durations, file IDs) and present it as a searchable list within the extension. Attribution: "Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0", shown in the BBC search tab of the Source browser. Justification: Section 9 of the RemArc licence explicitly releases metadata under OGL v3 for both personal and business use. Building a search interface over this data is unambiguously permitted.

Audio Content (Linking)

Licence: BBC RemArc Content Licence Key clause: Section 4(h); "Sharing our content [is prohibited]. For example, no uploading to social media sites. Sharing links is OK." Our use: Murmur constructs direct links to BBC-hosted MP3 files (sound-effects-media.bbcrewind.co.uk/mp3/{ID}.mp3). Audio is fetched by the user's browser directly from BBC servers. Murmur never downloads, bundles, re-hosts, or redistributes BBC audio files. Attribution: bbc.co.uk - (c) copyright BBC shown in the UI whenever a BBC URL is used. Justification: We share links, not content. The audio remains on BBC infrastructure and is fetched by the end user's browser on demand.

Non-Commercial Use

Key clause: Section 7; Content may be used "for non-commercial, personal or research purposes". Our position: Murmur is free, open-source, contains no ads, charges no fees, and generates no revenue. Individual GMs use BBC audio in personal tabletop RPG sessions - a non-commercial, personal activity. Justification: The extension is a tool that enables personal use. The GM actively searches for, selects, and links BBC content into their own game session. Murmur does not pre-load, auto-play, or programmatically select BBC content without user action.

"Not Only BBC Content"

Key clause: Section 4(d); "You can't make a service of your own that contains only our content." Our compliance: Murmur ships with its own bundled CC0 audio loop library (15+ presets). BBC Sound Effects is one of three audio source options alongside bundled presets and user-provided URLs. The BBC tab is not the default - users must actively navigate to it. Justification: BBC content is never the sole or even the primary content source. The extension's core functionality works entirely without BBC content.

No Interstitial Content

Key clause: Section 4(f); "[Don't] put any other content between the link to our content and the content itself. So no ads or short videos people have to sit through." Our compliance: When a GM selects a BBC sound, the browser fetches the audio directly from sound-effects-media.bbcrewind.co.uk. No interstitial ads, redirects, splash pages, or intermediate content of any kind exists between the selection and the audio playback.

Geographic Restrictions

None. The RemArc licence contains no mention of UK residency, nationality, or BBC licence fee payer status. Section 12(d) specifies English law as the governing jurisdiction for disputes, but this is a standard jurisdiction clause, not a usage restriction. The licence applies equally to all users worldwide.

Revocability

Key clause: Section 2; "If you don't stick to all these terms then we can suspend or terminate your use of our content." Section 4(a); BBC can take down content "at any time, without notice". Our risk posture: Since Murmur links to BBC-hosted audio rather than bundling it, revocation means links break (audio stops playing) but no licence violation occurs. If the BBC Sound Effects service were shut down entirely, all BBC-sourced emitters would go silent but the extension continues to function with its bundled and URL-based audio sources.

CSV Data Source

The catalogue CSV used for search is sourced from FThompson/BBCSoundDownloader on GitHub, which is a third-party extraction of BBC catalogue metadata. The underlying metadata is governed by OGL v3 (per RemArc Section 9) regardless of the CSV's provenance. The CSV repository has no separate licence file. We attribute the BBC as the data source, not the CSV author.

Summary

Aspect Status Licence Basis
Catalogue search interface Permitted OGL v3 (RemArc Section 9)
Linking to BBC audio Permitted RemArc Section 4(h): "Sharing links is OK"
Non-commercial personal use Permitted RemArc Section 7
Not a BBC-only service Compliant Bundled CC0 loops + URL sources alongside BBC
No geographic restriction Confirmed No residency/nationality clause in licence
Attribution Included bbc.co.uk - (c) copyright BBC + OGL v3 notice
Revocation risk Accepted Links break gracefully; no bundled BBC content to remove