Can I stream a Library DVD I own to my students?

Answer

The Library purchases DVDs for academic use. The purchase includes the right to show the film to a class. You are not permitted, though, to download the film and then upload it for viewing on Blackboard, Google Classrooms, or another platform.

The Copyright Act at §110(1) (face to face teaching exemption) allows for the performance or display of video or film in a classroom where instruction takes place in classroom with enrolled students physically present and the film is related to the curricular goals of the course.

The TEACH Act amendment to the Copyright Act, codified at § 110(2), permits the performance of a reasonable and limited portion of films in an online classroom. Under the TEACH Act, there is the express limitation on quantity, and an entire film will rarely constitute a reasonable and limited portion.

Instructors may also rely upon fair use for showing films in an online course, although showing an entire film online also may not constitute fair use.

The library offers more information on copyright and the TEACH Act. Contact your subject librarian if you have any further questions.