Public Performance Licenses and Educational Distribution

Based in New York City, Steven C. Beer serves Franklin, Weinrib, Rudell & Vassallo as an entertainment and media attorney. Among the areas addressed in depth in the blog of Steven C. Beer’s firm is educational distribution and public performance license (PPL).

According to U.S. copyright law, showing a film to students typically requires a PPL from either the copyright holder or a representative. This holds true regardless of whether a physical copy of the film or a digital transmission method such as download or streaming is utilized.

The profit or nonprofit status of the institution, the presence of an admission fee, and the purpose of the film’s showing (entertainment or education) do not come into play. This preserves for filmmakers a distribution channel that is distinct from that involved in film transmissions to the general public.

One major PPL exception occurs when a legitimate copy of the film is shown by teachers at a nonprofit educational institution to students within a face-to-face context such as a classroom. The extremely limited nature of this exception means that, as a practical matter, schools usually acquire a PPL and arrange for streams to be provided to faculty and pupils so the film can be seen at the pupils’ convenience. This can either be accomplished through a digital site license, which involves the use of a school’s own password-protected server, or through an authorized third-party hosted server.