When you want to perform, display, or show a film, video, or TV program, whether it be as part of a course, at a group or club activity, at an organization event, or as a training exercise, you have to consider the rights of the those who own the copyright to the work you want to use. This consideration must be made regardless of who owns the video or where you obtained it. Copyright owners have certain rights, which are commonly known as public performance rights (PPR).
When you're using a film, video, or TV program in a classroom for teaching or educational purposes, such performance or display of the entire work may be allowed without permission under the face to face teaching exemption at 17 U.S.C. §110(1).
When showing a film in an online class, it may be considered fair use depending on how much of the film is being shown and for what purposes. If fair use does not apply, you will need a streaming license or view the film through a licensed streaming film provider.
In most other cases, especially when the film, video, or TV program is being shown as part of an event, you need permission--often in the form of a public performance rights (PPR) license--to perform or show the copyrighted work.
About:
Swank is a film and TV licensing company that provides, among other institutions, K-12 schools with access to current and popular films and TV shows. Our school purchases a license through Swank, that gives us legitimate access to show any of the films and shows that they offer. Read More here.
How it works:
Faculty: Please contact Anna Bognolo for detailed instructions.
Faculty are able to select films/shows from a large list of titles. Some of these titles are always available, while others require special request to access (this is indicated next to the title of the film/show). Once a request is made, it takes between 24 and 48 hours for a request to become available (faculty need to consider this if they are assigning a film/show to a class). Read more here.
Each film/show has a unique URL which faculty can share with their students. Students can only access a film/show that is shared with them by a faculty member. This is not a streaming service like Netflix/Hulu/Amazon Prime Video!
For further questions or assistance with Swank, please contact the Eaglebrook Library.
The film I want to show is on Netflix. Can I stream this through my Netflix account in the classroom?
Subscription services such as Netflix and Amazon have very detailed membership agreements that may forbid the streaming of subscribed content in a classroom or other public venue. When you agree to the terms of membership, you enter into a contract and the terms of that contract trump any applicable exception in copyright. Therefore, if the membership agreement with Netflix prohibits the showing of the film in a classroom, you are bound by the terms of that agreement even if the face to face teaching exception would otherwise allow it. Read this article from EdSurge for more about Netflix and classrooms!
Can you show videos in your online class? Read this article prepared by Duke University Learning Innovation Blog.
Our student club wants to show a film but it is for educational purposes. There is a plan for discussion about the issues raised in the film after it's shown. Do we still need Public Performance Rights?
It depends. Ordinarily, the showing of a film by a group or club is for entertainment purposes and thus PPR is required. However, if the group's purpose and activities are ordinarily educational nature and the showing of the film is in furtherance of those educational purposes and activities, then it may be fair use to show the film without PPR.
What about a film series hosted by a group or club that is open to and advertised to the public?
The showing of a film as part of a film series is viewed as entertainment even if hosted or sponsored by an educational group or club. No matter how educational the setting or how tied to the curriculum, this is generally considered not to be fair use and PPR must be obtained.
I own the DVD that the club I am a member of wants to show. Do I still need to get PPR?
It doesn't matter where the film you are planning to show comes from -- your own collection, the Library's or the corner video rental shop. The analysis is the same. If an exception under copyright law does not apply (e.g. fair use, face to face teaching), then you must obtain PPR prior to showing the film.
What does "Home Use Only" mean? Does it mean I cannot show this DVD to my class?
Under copyright law, copyright holders have the exclusive right of performing or displaying their copyrighted works, including films or videos. The "Home Use Only" warning at the beginning of most DVDs refers to this exclusive right of performance and display. However, the law also has an exception for performing or displaying works in a face to face teaching situation where the work being performed or displayed is related to the curriculum and only being performed or displayed for students enrolled in a course at a non-profit educational institution (such as UF). Therefore, under this exception, DVDs with the "Home Use Only" warning can be played in a face to face classroom. For online courses, refer to fair use for determining how much of the film can be shown.
May I show clips of films to my students as part of a lecture?
Generally, yes, this is permissible under fair use. Apply the four factors of fair use to determine whether the film in question may be used for this purpose and how much of the film may be shown. New exemptions under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act permit educators to "rip" clips from videos for educational purposes.
If you have a local public library card, or a Boston Public Library eCard, you can access the streaming video services called KANOPY and HOOPLA.
Kanopy offers over 13,000 videos from contemporary independent films and award winning documentaries to international silent films and educational videos.
Hoopla is a groundbreaking digital media service offered by your local public library that allows you to borrow movies, music, audiobooks, ebooks, comics and TV shows to enjoy on your computer, tablet, or phone – and even your TV! Titles can be streamed immediately, or downloaded to phones or tablets for offline enjoyment later. We have hundreds of thousands of titles to choose from, with more being added daily. hoopla is like having your public library at your fingertips. Anytime. Anywhere.
For assistance locating a public library that offers Kanopy, or to set-up a Boston Public Library eCard, please contact the Eaglebrook Library.
NETFLIX Educational screenings of documentaries
Some Netflix original educational documentaries are available for one-time educational screenings.
To find out which titles are available for educational screenings, visit media.netflix.com and search for the title or browse our recent and upcoming releases.
Titles that are available for educational screening will display either a Grant of Permission or an Educational Screenings Permission (ESP) on their details page.
ONE-TIME SCREENING DEFINED (OR GRANT OF PERMISSION FOR EDUCATIONAL SCREENINGS)
Netflix is proud to present original documentaries that speak to our users in a meaningful way. We know that many of you are as excited about these films as we are; and because of their informational aspects, you’d like to show them in an educational setting -- e.g., in the classroom, at the next meeting of your community group, with your book club, etc.
Consequently, we will permit one-time educational screenings - "one-time screening" means that you can't hold screenings several times in one day or one week, but if, for example, you're an educator who wants to show the film once a semester over multiple semesters, that's okay.
Educational screenings are permitted for any of the documentaries noted with this information, on the following terms:
● The documentary may only be accessed via the Netflix service, by a Netflix account holder. We don’t sell DVDs, nor can we provide other ways for you to exhibit the film.
● The screening must be non-profit and non-commercial. That means you can’t charge admission, fundraise, solicit donations, or accept advertising or commercial sponsorships in connection with the screening.
● The documentary shall not be screened at any political campaign events and/or electoral campaigning events.
● Please don’t use Netflix’s logos in any promotion for the screening, or do anything else that indicates that the screening is “official” or endorsed by Netflix.
● We trust our users to respect these guidelines, which are intended to help you share and discuss our documentary content in your community.
To the extent your institution requires you to demonstrate that you have a license for your screening, please show them this page.
There are many sources for streaming video content available that students can access on their own. For instance, subscription services Netflix and Hulu offer thousands of documentaries, mainstream film titles, and television programs on a streaming basis for an affordable monthly fee that most students likely already pay. Additionally, sites like Amazon and iTunes offer inexpensive streaming video rental. Instructors are encouraged to investigate availability of videos through these subscription services that they wish students to view and require students, as part of the class, to have one of these low-cost monthly services or to rent movies on their own time. Further, many commercial distributors of films offer licensing of streaming content, although the cost varies across vendors and is dependent upon a variety of factors, such as class size. There are also many online sources for free and legal streaming content:
Full length episodes from the acclaimed series.
Teacher resources across the curriculum - short films on a variety of subjects.
A National Preserve of Documentary Films about American Roots Cultures streamed with essays about the traditions and film-making. The site includes transcriptions, study and teaching guides, suggested readings, and links to related websites.
This library contains thousands of digital movies uploaded by Archive users which range from classic full-length films, to daily alternative news broadcasts, to cartoons and concerts. Many of these videos are available for free download.
A thoughtful collection of links to hundreds of Indie Films, Film Noir, Documentaries & More. The list includes films by directors like Fritz Lang, Alfred Hitchcock, Billy Wilder, Elia Kazan, Ken Loach, Sergei Eisenstein, Tarkovsky, Capra, Luc Besson, Godard, Hawks, Kubrick, and many more.
A Project of the School of Library and Information Science at UNC Chapel Hill. The purpose of the Open Video Project is to collect and make available a repository of digitized video content for the digital video, multimedia retrieval, digital library, and other research communities.
SnagFilms.com is a website where you can watch full-length documentary films for free, but also a platform that lets you "snag" a film and put it anywhere on the web." Searchable and browseable alphabetically or by topic.
TED talks is large collection of recorded presentations from the TED (Technology, Entertainment Design) conference held annually since 1984 in Long Beach California. Talks are generally short and run the gamut of topics from biotechnology to astronomy to population to urban design and beyond.
More than 1200 documentary films available for streaming. Subjects are varied and cover a wide range of personal, social, scientific, political, historical topics.
YES -- you need public performance rights:
NO -- you do not need public performance rights:
Individuals and organizations are responsible for obtaining public performance rights for all non-exempt showings. There are two ways to obtain PPR, also known as permission or a license:
1. Contact the copyright holder directly, or contact the distributor. If the distributor has the authority from the copyright owner to grant licenses, to purchase public performance rights or to request permission for a particular public performance use, permission or license can be directly obtained.
2. Contact the licensing service representing the particular studio or title (note - this will generally be required for all feature length films). Services vary in the types of licensing offered and the scope of materials represented. Some of the companies that provide (for a fee) public performance licenses are listed below: