Streaming films

During the pandemic, most teaching on campus moved to teaching online. We were able to apply the same rules that applied to the classroom for material supplied to students via the VLE (Blackboard) during the time that on-site teaching was not possible. 

Those provisions no longer apply now students are on campus. As before, it is absolutely fine to show a film/DVD owned by the university to students in a lecture theatre physically on site. For this we can rely on Section 34 of the CDPA, which relates to performing, playing or showing work in the course of activities of an educational establishment.

If possible, the best practice is to use content via a service that we subscribe to (e.g. Box of Broadcasts).

You should make sure that:

• screening is limited to teaching staff and students registered on a particular module only
• the film is only being shown for the purpose of instruction
• only legally acquired films are being shown, preferably one in the Library’s collection but using one of your own DVDs is ok if that’s not possible
• students/staff are aware that they are seeing the film as a result of their course and that the film should not be recorded while it’s being shown and must not be posted on the internet

Short excerpts of DVDs/films can also be used for teaching under Section 32 (Illustration for instruction) of the CDPA, both on campus and in the VLE, providing it is accompanied by sufficient acknowledgement and meets fair dealing criteria.

As mentioned before, best practice is to use content via a service that we subscribe to (e.g. Box of Broadcasts), or material which is clearly made available under an open access licence such as Creative Commons.

For enquiries about this advice and streaming video on site or in the VLE, please contact us.