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. 

Now that students are back 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.

It is also still fine to show films to students online via the VLE, provided this is an essential part of their study and the best practice points below are followed. We can rely on educational use under Section 32 (Illustration for instruction) of the CDPA, both on campus and in the VLE, providing the showing of the film is required as part of study, is non-commercial, meets fair dealing principles, and is accompanied by sufficient acknowledgement.

The new Learning on Screen Code of Fair Practice for the Use of Audiovisual Works in Film Education provides a resource for understanding this further, and explains how film and AV material can be used in the course of teaching and learning.

When showing films, whether on campus or online, the 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.

When relying on one of the copyright exceptions mentioned above 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

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