Viewing Movies and Other Audio-Visual Works
at the University:
Public Perfromances to Meet Educational Needs

A Project of the
IUPUI Copyright Management Center

Kenneth D. Crews, Associate Dean of the Faculties for Copyright Management
David Wong, Senior Copyright Analyst

Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis
530 West New York Street
Indianapolis, Indiana 46202
Voice: 317-274-4400 Fax: 317-278-3326
http://www.copyright.iupui.edu

Showing or “performing” a motion picture at the university can be important for teaching and other university activities. In many situations, it is also perfectly appropriate under copyright law, but not all “public performances” are lawful. The law of copyright attempts to balance the interests of the public with the interests of authors in their creative works. The law gives copyright owners several exclusive rights, including the exclusive right to give public performances of their copyrighted works, but the law also permits some performances of these works by others as summarized below. These principles are generally true, whether the work is a feature film, an educational video, downloaded from the web, recorded off-air, or stored on VHS or DVD.

Allowed: A showing or performance that is private and not a public performance.
A performance can be “public” if it is at a place open to the public or at any place where a substantial number of persons outside of a normal circle of a family and its social acquaintances are gathered. Therefore:
• The smaller the viewing group, the less likely it will be a public performance.
• Open invitations and advertisements to the public can make the performance “public.”

Allowed: The showing of the video is in the course of teaching activities of a nonprofit educational institution.
IU and IUPUI qualify as a nonprofit educational institution and a performance is most likely to fit within the exception if:
• The performance is in a classroom or similar location for instruction (Note: this exception applies only in the face-to-face setting and not to a broadcast or transmission).
• The performance is part of a teaching activity, however it does not have to be part of a regular course; therefore, host a related discussion forum or arrange for a student or instructor to lead an educational program related to the film.
• For more information see: Section 110(1) of the Copyright law.

Allowed: The copyright owner has granted permission for the performance.
The copyright owner is typically the creator of the work. For example, most movie studios hold the copyright to their works.
• Obtain permission in writing if possible. While an oral agreement may suffice, written agreements always are preferable.
• Some film rental companies offer a “public performance license” for a fee.
• For more information concerning how to obtain permission, please visit: http://copyright.iupui.edu/permsec.htm.

Allowed: The performance is of a film that is in the public domain.
Copyright protection does not last forever. However, the rules for determining the duration of protection can be extremely complicated and may depend on facts that are simply undiscoverable without many hours of research. One bright line rule does exist: any work published in the U.S. before 1923 is in the public domain. For more information concerning determining whether a work is in the public domain, please visit:

• http://dml.indiana.edu/pdf/dml-copyright-duration-report.pdf
• http://www.copyright.cornell.edu/training/Hirtle_Public_Domain.htm.

Also, many copyright owners offer their works to the public with few or no restrictions. To use these works, make sure that the owner has given explicit permission to the public and heed any restrictions that may prohibit your planned use. For more information concerning these types of works, please visit:

• Copyright Alternative Mechanisms (coming soon!)

For more information concerning which films are in the public domain or have been offered to the public and how to obtain them, please visit:

• http://www.fesfilms.com/masters.html
• http://www.desertislandfilms.com/
• http://www.reelmediainternational.com/
• http://www.buyoutfootage.com/
• http://www.openflix.com/
• http://www.archive.org/details/movies
• http://www.creativecommons.org/

Allowed: The performance is of a work created by the U.S. government.
Works created by the federal government are not protected by copyright and in the public domain. However, works commissioned by the federal government may have copyright protection. Also, state government works may very likely receive copyright protection. Federal government works in the public domain include:
• Military Films
• Space Exploration

Allowed: Fair uses of the copyrighted work.
The law of fair use provides an exception to the exclusive rights of the copyright owner. If the facts surrounding the viewing of the video fit within fair use, there is no infringement. There are many common misconceptions concerning the law of fair use and you should review the law before making any conclusions. You will have to consider the four factors of fair use:
1. the purpose of your use
2. the nature of the video
3. amount of the video shown
4. the effect of your showing of the video on the market for the video
For more information concerning the law of fair use and conducting fair-use analyses, please visit: http://www.copyright.iupui.edu/fairuse.htm.

For more information concerning copyright, visit the Copyright Management Center website at: www.copyright.iupui.edu.

Links Updated: February 7, 2006

 

Copyright © 2002-2006 Indiana University