21st-century movie lovers should be able to quickly recognize the blue FBI anti-piracy image that appears when watching DVDs. It’s a warning many dismiss, eager to watch their favorite movies at home, but its message is loud and clear, even if ignored: Don’t violate copyright law.
Copyright crimes vary and are typically handled at the civil level. On a college campus, copyright violations, particularly those related to film screenings, can occur unintentionally.
The rule is in any out-of-home setting, proper licensing must be purchased to screen a movie. This is because films, like many other artistic creations, such as illustrations, books and music, are copyrighted material.
In 1976, Congress created the Copyright Act, which outlines the basic framework of modern-day copyright law. It defines how copyrighted material should be handled in a public setting, among other things. With films, simply purchasing, renting, downloading or lending a movie doesn’t mean you can share the content outside of a private viewing.
This is defined as public performance, which is one of the rights creatives and authors are automatically granted for their work.
“No one is allowed to publicly perform the work without (the creator’s) permission, and if they do, there’s automatic potential damages that arise,” said Doug Sylvester, a professor teaching copyright law at the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law.
Public performance can simply be pressing play on a movie and screening it. Sylvester said that in terms of the public aspect, if the movie is shown to a large or small group of people in any kind of public space, you have performed the work publicly.
Copyright infringement is policed regularly. If a violation occurs, the first step is often a cease-and-desist letter calling for the violation to stop. However, if studios become aware of a screening after it has already taken place, requests for damages can arise, Sylvester said.
To avoid violating copyright when screening a film, organizers must obtain public performance rights, the legal rights necessary to perform and show copyrighted work publicly.
At ASU and many colleges across the country, that is done through Swank Motion Pictures. The company provides licences and content from movie studios to non-theatrical screeners.
Matt Pierson is a team leader in Swank’s college department. He said the company represents around 90% of film studios. When purchasing rights to a film, the cost varies, depending on the estimated audience size and the title’s popularity.
“Most of the time licensing is going to range anywhere from, say, depending on the title, $500 to $1,500, depending on things like audience size, the popularity of it,” Pierson said.
Melissa Hlomatchi, a third-year student studying kinesiology, is the executive director of the Residence Hall Association at the Downtown campus. She said ASU’s partnership with Swank is crucial for event planning and that the rules of screening aren’t widely known among students and staff.
“Even people on my executive board were confused as to why we had to pay so much for this Swank streaming agreement,” Hlomatchi said. “They were like, ‘Why can’t we combine our Disney+ and Netflix accounts and just use streaming that way?'”
The University’s close relationship with Swank allows partners like Pierson to work with student organizers.
Another great resource is ASU Library, which can help students access public performance rights for media in its catalog as well as connect event organizers to the right personnel.
“A place like ASU, through the library in particular, they have worked with counsel, they can give you the right legal advice, they can help you figure out who you have to contact to get permission,” Sylvester said. “So you are lucky that at ASU, they’ve figured out what you need to do to avoid getting yourself in trouble.”
Edited by Kasturi Tale, Henry Smardo, Sophia Braccio and Pippa Fung.
Reach the reporter at jagon128@asu.edu.
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Jazlyn GonzalesThe Echo Reporter
Jazlyn Gonzales is junior studying Journalism and Mass Communication. This is her third semester with the State Press. She has also interned at KJZZ.
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