Film Copyright & Licensing
Student Organizations are required to follow the federal film/movie copyright laws. The following information will help guide your organization through the process of obtaining and watching films/movies on campus.
Copyright Licensing Agents
Criterion Pictures USA is one of the largest non-theatrical providers of feature films in North America. In the United States, Criterion has exclusive relationships with some of Hollywood's largest film Studios, such as Paramount Pictures (select titles only), 20th Century Fox, Fox Searchlight, Dream Works Animation, Troma Films, New Concorde, among others.
Swank Motion Pictures, Inc., founded in 1937, is the major non-theatrical movie distributor and public performance licensing agent in venues where feature movies are shown publicly.
Rod Library
400+ titles that have Public Performance Rights
Can you show Amazon Prime to the public?
Your subscription – your license to utilize these services, is for private/personal use only. Playing any videos off of Amazon Prime, Netflix, Hulu, or even YouTube without a commercial license violates the Terms & Conditions of the service, and may result in a heavy fine.
Kanopy (streaming service)
Kanopy videos can be watched by any and all authorized viewers, whether in a group or individual viewing context. The Rod Library has mediated access which allows you to see the video titles currently in our Library catalog that we are licensing. Faculty, staff and students can watch any of these films for free.
If you have a specific title in mind that does not appear in the Library catalog, go to OneSearch! and type Kanopy in the search box, which will provide you with a link to Kanopy’s full catalog. Or, you can search the internet for Kanopy.com. When you find a video in their catalog, click on it and a request form will appear. Any staff, faculty, or student can fill out the request form. The completed form comes to the Library Resource Management Unit where each request will be evaluated for purchase.
The highest priority will be given to those videos that are essential to supporting the curriculum. Once approved for purchase videos will be available for 12 months from the date they are licensed. Access to those of ongoing interest can be extended, funds permitting. Users are encouraged to explore our DVD, Blu-ray, and other resources to accommodate this change.
Viewing films in a group forum is permitted for all films for classroom viewings and most films for non-classroom group settings as long as the viewing is by authorized viewers and it is not for commercial benefit (i.e. no admission costs are charged and no profit is made from the screening).\
**Please contact us direct and we will confirm if the film is available for a showing to a group forum.
Please note: As with all streaming solutions, if you are considering showing a Kanopy video to a large audience, you will need to ensure you have a sufficient internet connection at the location of the group showing. We recommend considering a DVD purchase for high profile group screenings. Kanopy does not sell DVDs but we can direct you to the rights owner to purchase the DVD.