If you wish to screen a film for a campus event outside of a face-to-face class, you will need to acquire Public Performance Rights (PPR). According to US Copyright law, a public performance is one that is "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 is gathered." (17 USC 106). If you do not obtain PPR, screening the film would be a violation of the owner's copyright. 

Some library databases contain films with Public Performance Rights already included. For these films, you just need to confirm the PPR status before using them. The easiest way to do this is to reach out to me directly (nick.dease@richmond.edu). I will verify the film for you and notify you of the status. However, many of our film databases openly display PPR status when we have them. The resources below are good places to search for films with PPR.

Additionally, if we don't have Public Performance Rights for the film you wish to screen, I can help you locate the appropriate distributor to discuss pricing. 

All of the films in the two databases below (Films on Demand, Feature Films for Education) include PPR per their Terms of Use: You can "stream, display, publicly perform, and exhibit the Licensed Materials available within the Infobase Services asynchronously on a single computer or network, course management system, or password-protected share site within Subscriber’s intranet portal;"

The film databases below have a limited selection of films with Public Performance Rights (PPR). See the database descriptions for detailed instructions on how to identify which films come with PPR.

The information presented above is only general information.  This is not to be considered legal advice.