Re: classroom use of feature length film

McMullen, Anthony wrote on 10/03/2006 01:00 AM:

> Instructor at educational institution wishes to rent a feature length
> film from Blockbuster video and then show film in its entirety to his
> Film Studies class of approximately 20 students.

> Is permission from copyright owner required? I'm finding conflicting
> information regarding the typical "for home use only" label that is
> fixed to most videos borrowed from commercial video stores.

I'm not American nor am I a legal expert. I think the copyright holder has granted a licence (spelt license in US) to Blockbuster to rent it out. Your rental agreement is not with the copyright holder, therefore, but with Blockbuster. Blockbuster will know what the precise terms of the licence is.

The label "for home use only" is IMO not meant as a legal agreement between you and Blockbuster... it is merely a reminder of the [unwritten?] terms of the rental licence. It is a visual reminder that the video is rented for non-commercial use.

If you'd like to know if "for home use only" includes showing it in an educational setting, the best people to call, would be the Blockbuster customer help line. Sketch your scenario and let them tell you whether you need to purchase an additional licence from them for your purposes.   Take note of the person's name, rank and number who you spoke to.

Also, in South African we have a national library of films where you can "borrow" or "rent" (often free or charge) a variety of films. Perhaps this film is available from a similar service in the US?

Samuel Received on Fri Mar 10 2006 - 22:35:00 GMT