Showing Films on Campus
Events with Movies or Television shows:
Student organizations who want to have an event in which they show a movie
can only do so through obtaining public showing rights through a college
distributor. Regardless of whether your event has an admission charge or
is free; regardless if the event is open or just for invited guests; and
regardless of whether or not you own the movie on DVD or VHS, it is a violation
of federal copyright law to show a movie on campus without securing the
rights.
Many student organizations assume that if someone in the group
owns a DVD then they are allowed to play it on campus as an
event- this is not the case; nor is renting a film from a place
like Blockbuster and playing it on campus as an event.
There are also misperceptions that calling the showing of
a film "an educational event" waives the need to acquire rights.
This is not true. Only films shown by a professor in a legitimate
UD course (one found in the course catalogue) are free of rights
for the specific showing in class. For example, if a professor
shows a film in class and then an organization wants to show
that same film later in the same classroom as an event, the
copyright law still applies to the showing by the organization.
Additionally, the same laws apply to any television show that
is on VHS or DVD. For example, if the event was a marathon
viewing of the first season of a television show out on DVD
then public broadcast rights would need to be secured. However,
if you wanted to have an event where people viewed what was
on television at the moment then rights do not have to be secured.
Rights range in price from $200 to $1200 depending on the
age of the film. The Activities and Programs Office works with
several companies that handle license rentals and can provide
contact information. Additionally, the Allocation Board can
fund such license fees for Registered Student Organizations
if applied for through an Event Supplemental.