Legal and Business Affairs will issue your commissioning contract and deal with any queries arising and will be happy to talk to you about any clearance, contractual or legal issues you may have during production. We are based on the third floor of Henry Wood House - do feel free to drop by if you are in the building.

1. Getting Commissioned

If you have never been commissioned by BBC radio before and have an idea you would like to submit to the BBC, please contact the relevant radio station, details of how to pitch are available here .

2. Your contract with the BBC

A summary of the terms agreed with the radio independent production sector is set out in the Terms of Trade [PDF, 172 KB]

The programme production agreement that the BBC would expect to conclude with an independent producer is made up of the General Terms [PDF, 588 KB] and the Special Terms [PDF, 92 KB].

3. Programme-Making Process

The Starter Pack [PDF, 43 KB] is a general overview of all the things you need to consider when making a programme for the BBC including Health and Safety, Insurance and BBC Policies and Guidelines.

4. Underlying Rights

There is some information in the Starter Pack [PDF, 43 KB] regarding clearance of underlying rights and a guide to what you need to do for writers, actors and music is available here [PDF, 51 KB].

The following BBC agreements are available:

with Equity [PDF, 342 KB]
with the Musician's Union [PDF, 168 KB]
with the Writers' Guild [PDF, 423 KB]
with the ISM [PDF, 311 KB]

We have drafted templates for you to use (if you wish) for the clearance of published works which are based on the BBC's agreements with the Publisher's Association - there is one for extracts [PDF, 32 Kb] and one for complete works [PDF, 39 Kb]. If you choose to use these templates we ask that you do not agree any alterations to the terms without consulting Business Affairs. Any amendments which you agree could affect the BBC's negotiating position when clearing published works for inhouse productions.

All the above agreements contain details of the standard rates for commissioning the relevant contribution, we will update these agreements when these rates change.

As of July 2006, budgets for readings, dramas and sitcoms reflect the New Public Services Fee in the writers' contract(s). We would expect you to pre-clear the rights covered by the New Public Services Fee as defined in the relevant agreements. To clarify, this includes internet streaming, audio on-demand rights and pre-cleared repeats of the writers' contributions on the BBC's digital networks for a period of five years from first analogue broadcast.

The Underlying Rights Guide contains some suggested wording for you to include in your performers' contracts to make sure that they are covered by the BBC's blanket licence with Equity for repeats on BBC7.

A sample release form [Word File, 30 KB] along with guidance on its use [Word File, 27 KB] and guidance about making a consent form binding [PDF, 42 KB] are available.

5. Health & Safety

All independent production companies working for the BBC need to complete a Health and Safety Questionnaire [Word File, 37KB]. Gerardina Carbone will send this to you along with a covering letter once she's received instruction to do so by a radio network. Advice on how to complete the questionnaire is included in the Starter Pack [PDF, 43 KB], and an example of a completed questionnaire [PDF, 3.1 MB] can be reviewed.

6. Proteus

Programme proposals must be submitted via the electronic commissioning system called Proteus. To enquire about obtaining access to this system please contact Gerardina Carbone on (020) 7765 4901 or gerardina.carbone@bbc.co.uk . Please let us know at the time of making the programme proposal via the Rights section on Proteus if there are any variations to General Term 6 that we will need to discuss. When completing the Rights section, please use wording similar to that usually used in clause 3.2 of the Special Terms of your contract - samples of clause 3.2 are available here [PDF, 17KB].

7. New Media Commissions

If you are interested in supplying new media services to BBC Audio & Music, you must register as a New Media Supplier here .

The registration is the first step to the BBC's assessment of the suitability of businesses for inclusion on the Approved Supplier List which can be viewed here .

You can find out more about working with Audio & Music Interactive here .