Screening Movies – Extended Public Performance Rights
Posted: October 6th, 2006Almost all DVDs and videos in Queen’s Library can be shown in the classroom or to other groups on campus because they are purchased with Public Performance Rights. The purchase of these rights is costly but essential for group viewing; an indivudal may buy a single video for $25 while the Library pays $250 or much more for the same work. We either pay for PPR at the time of each purchase or pay through blanket licensing agreements. The University recently signed agreements with two agents representing studios and production companies, so that members of the Queen’s community can show their licensed movies in the classroom. The movies may be on the Library shelf but they can also be rented from the local video store.
How can you know which multimedia titles are covered by these public performance rights agreements? Unless you see a label on the DVD or video that it’s “available only for private viewing”, you can assume that the item may be shown in the classroom or elsewhere on campus in a group setting.
For more information, including lists of studios and production companies covered by the two agreements as well as searchable databases of titles, see the websites for the two major performance-rights agents, Criterion and Audio Ciné.
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