Legality of screening videos?

Note: I know that the mods are very sensitive about copyright questions, and this is one. However, I believe it’s an area with a lot of confusion, and I am not in any way asking a question that is going to help folks break the law. So I hope it can remain open.

The question is this: under what circumstances may I legally show a copyrighted video (say, The Lion King) to a group? Note that in most of these cases, the chances of my getting busted are just about zero; I’m asking about the letter of the law, not the practicality.

  1. May I show it to a slumber party that I invite people to via written invitation, and if so, may I mention the video on the invitation?
  2. May I show it to my second-grade class at a public school?
    2a) What about at a private school?
  3. May I show it to college students as part of a club?
  4. May I show it to attendees to a nonprofit event?
  5. May I show it to attendees to a for-profit event?

I’m pretty sure the answer to #1 is yes, and the answer to #5 is no, but I’m not sure about the ones in between. Can anyone help me out?

In all cases, does the legality change if I publicize the fact that I’ll be showing the movie?

Thanks!
Daniel

I would say that only #1 (private showing, not for pay) is permitted by the Average Movie.

I know that this applies to most of the movies that we can borrow from the public library; a few of them are specifically marked that they may be publically exhibited.

IANAL.

Here’s some info from Movie Licensing USA which handles a lot of this stuff:

http://www.movlic.com/qaschool.html

http://www.movlic.com/copyschool.html

The first section says

"What constitutes “public performance” of an entertainment movie?

Basically, any exhibition of an entertainment movie to groups outside the privacy of a home setting is construed as a public performance."

And then goes on to state that pretty much any public performance is a violation of copyright. Based on this, I’d say that your #1 is OK and your school events (2a and 2b) are OK if there’s a teacher in attendance and the movie is an essential part of the curriculum. The others (3-5) would be in violation.

Again, I don’t have any special knowledge and I’m just going by what a licensing company says which may be like asking Sony about copyright laws.

Here is a good start:

http://www.film-center.com/ppr.html

The issue is whether the showing constitutes a “public display” or “public performance” of the work.

(Emphasis added.)

The standard verbal formula is:

http://www.ascap.com/licensing/termsdefined.html; http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/html/uscode17/usc_sec_17_00000101----000-.html

Of course, items 2-5 might be covered by fair use. http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/html/uscode17/usc_sec_17_00000107----000-.html

http://www.stfrancis.edu/lib/copyright/

So you could show the Lion King in a college film class, but not in a second grade class (assuming they aren’t studying animated lions).

These are pretty cut-and-dried answers, with airtight cites, exactly how I like my GQ answers. Thanks, folks!

Daniel

Well, there are two fair use exceptions:

The one most seem to rely on is this one:

http://www.copyright.gov/title17/92chap1.html#110

This provision provides a safe-harbor for use of materials for education.

According to the copyright office:

(Emphasis added.)
http://www.copyright.gov/help/faq/faq-fairuse.html

And based on this provision, as you can see, the copyright office claims that the display cannot be for entertainment purposes.

The general fair use provision is found in section 107:

http://www.copyright.gov/title17/92chap1.html#107

This provision has been held to permit parodies. http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?court=us&vol=000&invol=U10426; http://www.publaw.com/parody.html And parodies are entertaining.

The problem with trying to squeeze a classroom display of a movie for entertainment is that such a display lacks the “transformative value” of a parody. The Acuff-Rose Court found this important:

*Id. *[1]

This isn’t the use of a part of a work in the creation of a new work that comments on or criticizes the copyrighted work. It is just a display for fun. Therefore, Section 107, probably does not help. There are other difficulties, too.

So the short answer to your question is no, unless the teacher is able to work it into a lesson plan.

[1] Regarding obscene parodies, *see * http://www.batnet.com/rjg/parody.html; http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/communications/elsmere.html; http://ccnmtl.columbia.edu/projects/law/library/cases/case_mcawilson.html#top. On parody generally, *see * http://jolt.law.harvard.edu/articles/pdf/v08/08HarvJLTech193.pdf (pdf).