Hi, Cindy--
I believe you still have to carefully comply with copyright law,
particularly because it is for a public performance--my understanding is
that in order to get an educational exemption, the film must be shown to an
established class in a classroom-type instructive environment (though I
should note that I'm no copyright expert!). However, it may be in your case
that it is possible and that it won't cost you anything other than the time
to seek permission to show it.
We wanted to show the movie _Amadeus_ to our church choir and contacted one
of the movie copyright clearinghouses for guidance. The good folks at the
clearinghouse suggested that, since it was a one-time performance for a
single movie, the best course of action was to go directly to the copyright
holder (usually the production company) and get their permission. I got in
touch with the producer and after an exchange of faxes (describing the
performance and its purpose) they gave us permission to show the movie for
free. It appears that allowing us to show it for free was simply their
decision--they could just as easily have charged us, and perhaps they would
have if it were going to be a more "public" performance. On the other hand,
because you are a museum and a non-profit, they may well waive any fee they
would normally charge as a good-will gesture.
You can probably track down the U.S. producer, if you don't already know it,
via the Internet Movie Database at http://www.imdb.com/
I hope this helps! Let me know if I can clarify anything.
All my best,
--Eric
Eric D. M. Johnson
Proprietor
The Village Factsmith Historical Research & Consulting
http://www.factsmith.com/
[log in to unmask]
----- Original Message -----
From: "Cindy Gardner" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Wednesday, January 19, 2005 11:10 AM
Subject: [MUSEUM-L] Showing movies to the general public and copyright laws
> Our director of education has the following questions and we hope that
> members of this list who better understand the copyright laws can help us
> know what we need to do. Thanks in advance for your time.
>
> If we are a not-for-profit organization and show a movie to the general
> public as a part of an educational program, are we breaking any copyright
> laws? We don't charge an entrance fee to the museum or a fee for viewing
> the movie. What is anyone's experience with this? Do we need to approach
> the copyright holder? Does anyone know the "official" rules or legal
> repercussions on this?
>
> --
> Cindy Gardner, Field Services Curator
> Old Capitol Museum of Mississippi History
> Mississippi Department of Archives and History
> P.O. Box 571
> Jackson, MS 39205-0571
> Telephone: 601/576-6901
> Facsimile: 601/576-6981
> Email: [log in to unmask]
>
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