# Understanding Copyright When Watching Movies Online
Copyright concerns around online movie viewing can seem confusing, but understanding the basic rules helps you stay compliant with the law. Whether you’re watching alone at home, sharing content with friends, or showing films in educational settings, different rules apply depending on your situation.
## What Copyright Actually Means for Movies
When someone creates a movie, they automatically own the copyright to that work. This means they have exclusive rights to decide how their movie gets used, who can watch it, and under what circumstances it can be shown. Copyright holders can be studios, production companies, independent filmmakers, or distributors who have purchased the rights from the original creators.
The copyright holder controls several important aspects of their movie. They decide whether you can watch it, how many times you can watch it, and whether you can show it to other people. They also control whether you can make copies, create derivative works, or use clips from the movie in your own projects.
## Personal Home Viewing and Streaming Services
When you subscribe to Netflix, Hulu, Disney Plus, or similar streaming services, you’re entering into a legal contract with that company. The terms and conditions you agree to when you create your account spell out exactly what you can and cannot do with the content you access through that service.
Most streaming services explicitly state that their content is for personal, non-commercial use only. This means you can watch movies on your own or with family members in your home. However, the moment you try to show that content in a classroom, at a public event, or in any kind of group setting outside your home, you violate the terms of service you agreed to.
Netflix, Hulu, Disney Plus, and Amazon Prime Video all have membership agreements that prohibit showing their content in classroom settings or public venues. Even though the content might be non-commercial, it still violates the licensing terms because it goes beyond personal home use. The key point here is that when you agree to the terms of membership with these services, you enter into a binding contract, and that contract takes priority over copyright law exceptions.
## The Face to Face Teaching Exception
If you’re an educator wanting to show a movie in a traditional classroom setting, copyright law does provide some protection. The face to face teaching exemption, found in Section 110(1) of the Copyright Act, allows you to perform or display a video or film in a classroom where instruction takes place with enrolled students physically present, as long as the film relates to the curricular goals of the course.
This exception is fairly broad for in-person classroom use. You can show an entire film if it’s relevant to what you’re teaching, and you don’t need special permission or a license from the copyright holder. The key requirements are that the classroom must have enrolled students physically present, and the film must connect to what you’re actually teaching in the course.
However, this exception does not extend to streaming services like Netflix or Hulu. Even though the face to face teaching exception would technically allow classroom use, the membership agreements with these services prohibit it. The contract you signed with the streaming service overrides the copyright law exception.
## Online Classes and the TEACH Act
When teaching online, the rules change somewhat. The TEACH Act amendment to the Copyright Act, found in Section 110(2), permits the performance of a reasonable and limited portion of films in an online classroom. This means you cannot show an entire feature film in an online class, but you can show clips or portions of films as part of your instruction.
The TEACH Act does not apply to all types of films. Feature films and dramatic works are specifically excluded from the TEACH Act’s protections. This means if you want to show portions of a feature film in an online class, you would need to rely on fair use doctrine rather than the TEACH Act itself.
## Understanding Fair Use
Fair use is a limitation on copyright holder rights that allows others to use portions of a copyrighted work without permission. Fair use is determined by four factors: the purpose and character of the use, the nature of the copyrighted work, the amount and substantiality of the portion used, and the effect of the use on the market value of the original work.
Fair use can apply to educational uses, criticism, parody, news reporting, research, and scholarship. However, fair use is not automatic. You must evaluate your specific situation against all four factors to determine whether your use qualifies as fair use.
When showing only small portions of a film included in a larger project, you may be able to make a fair use argument. For example, if you’re creating an educational video that includes a short clip from a movie to illustrate a point, that might qualify as fair use. However, if you’re showing most of a feature film for entertainment purposes, that would not be fair use.
## Public Performance Rights and Licenses
If you want to show a movie at an event, gathering, or festival, you need to obtain public performance rights. Public performance rights are the legal permission from the copyright holder to show their work publicly. Most DVDs, streaming movies, and other copies you purchase or access do not come with public performance rights included.
To get public performance rights, you typically need to purchase a public performance license from an organization that represents the copyright holders. The Motion Picture Licensing Corporation, known as MPLC, is one major organization that issues these licenses. Swank Motion Pictures is another major non-theatrical movie distributor and public performance licensing agent.
These licensing organizations work with studios and rights holders around the world to provide blanket licenses that give you access to thousands of titles. A blanket license allows you to show films and television shows without having to report every title you screen. You pay one license fee based on your intended use, and then you can show the licensed content without worrying about individual permissions for each film.
## The MPLC Blanket License Explained
The MPLC blanket license is one simple solution for copyright compliance when you want to show movies publicly. By working with studios around the world, MPLC provides access to tens of thousands of titles for public screenings. The license gives you public performance rights from more than five thousand rights holders globally, with only a few title exclusions.
One of the main benefits of the MPLC blanket license is that you only pay one license fee based on your intended use. You don’t have to report every title you screen or get individual permissions for each film. You can enjoy unlimited exhibitions without any reporting requirements.
The MPLC license applies to content obtained from any consumer source, including DVDs, Blu-rays, downloads, streaming services, broadcast television, cable, or satellite television. However, there are rules for screening content. Public exhibitions must be free of charge, and promotion for licensed entertainment must fall within MPLC guidelines.
## Institutional Subscriptions and Educational Licenses
Some institutions like universities and libraries purchase special subscriptions to streaming services that include educational performance rights. For example, many libraries subscribe to services like Kanopy, AVON, or
