Is it illegal for teachers to show movies in class?

Question

If a teacher wants to show a movie in class, do they need to pay royalties or get some sort of permission from the owner of the movie to do it? I know people do it all the time but I wonder if technically it is illegal or not. Thanks for any response.

Answer 1

No

Schools and libraries are exempt from the copyright laws UNLESS a fee is charged specifically for the screening (such as a noon movie).

Title 17 of US law specifically exempts Libraries and Teachers and Schools from the copyright laws. That is why there are photocopy machines in the library. That's why students can make copies of books. Teachers can make copies of sheet music and hand them out to students, but the students are supposed to shred them after the class has finished for the semester.

I know, I worked for a library for 23 years and had talks with Attorney Walter Hurst, author of Films in the Public Domain and 20 other texts on Music and Film rights.

http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/html/uscode17/usc_sec_17_00000108----000-.html

In paragraph (2), the term “mediated instructional activities” with respect to the performance or display of a work by digital transmission under this section refers to activities that use such work as an integral part of the class experience, controlled by or under the actual supervision of the instructor and analogous to the type of performance or display that would take place in a live classroom setting. The term does not refer to activities that use, in 1 or more class sessions of a single course, such works as textbooks, course packs, or other material in any media, copies or phonorecords of which are typically purchased or acquired by the students in higher education for their independent use and retention or are typically purchased or acquired for elementary and secondary students for their possession and independent use.

US law is the most stringent in the world. In Canada it is legal to take a camcorder into a theater and shoot a copy of the film for your own personal use (provided the theater lets you in with it). Which is why Warners no longer will premier films in Canada. They got tired of everyone in the audience camcordering something!

Schools regularly buy media from companies likeTime Life and they pay the same rates I would for a home purchase, but they are for the school archives for teaching purposes and US law allows the school to strike archive copies (up to 3) provided there is no copy protection on the media.

This is not a license nor an exchange of rights. The school can't have public screenings at which admission is charges for non-students to see the offering. That would be a violation of copyrights, even for a school.

A library can make a FREE screening of any film they own.

You are aware that Libraries have DVD and loan them out to people.

It is ILLEGAL for a private person to do this. You can only loan them to direct family, but no one pursues that aspect of the law.

Answer 2

Showing Disney Movies In School

Answer 3

I've had this conversation before with professors and administrators, and schools are exempt out of this copy right restriction. Camps aren't allowed to show movies, and schools can't just show movies for entertainment- but they are allowed to use them for educational instruction. Most schools, I'd imagine, don't break this rule- but there are probably a couple that may push it to a boundary... for example, is a substitute teacher allowed to pop in the latest Disney movie to appease the kids in the teachers absences? Maybe not. But normal use is allowed.

Answer 4

You are getting some wrong answers from a lot of people. The copyright law says that you can't show a movie in a public setting (as opposed to a private home) without first gaining permission. Whether you charge for it is irrelevant. Some schools (blessed few) may pay for rights but the vast majority do not.

Most companies will grant permission for educational reasons if you write to them ahead of time describing the educational activity.

Answer 5

No it's not illegal, but there is still the age limit law. For instance it would be illegal to show X, NC-17 and R rated movies to anyone under 18.

Answer 6

i think it isn't since they are doing it for educational purposes and not trying to make a profit.

the only thing I know about showing movies in class is in most schools it is illegal to show R rated movies unless they are specifically relevant to the class and then parental permission must be given.

Answer 7

there is no profit being gained from the students watching the movie, so that means there is no law being broken.

thats like saying i'm breaking the law if i had 3 friends over for pizza and a movie one night.

wheather its 3 friends or a classroom of 20......it doesn't matter.

go for it teachers! pop in your favorite G-rated movie and actually give yourself some time to get some work done!

Answer 8

As long as no profit is gained it's legal.
If the movie is rated R or anything that can't be shown to minors under 18 the teacher needs to get consent from the parent or guardian of the student.

Answer 9

if it's rated R they need a permission slip from parents. and that's highschool. No for 6th grade if its PG-13 they need parent permission. So I would say that maybe it's agaisnt school rules. And yes for a movie like Sweeney Todd, I wouldnt like my kids watching that without my permission

Answer 10

Schools do pay to show films and video's in class. They are charged annually on the size of the school. this is all done through the bursar so you would not know of it.