I hate to say this but PPR is whatever the distributor who sold it to you said it was. Copyright law is VERY clear, you have no right to show a film to an audience outside a class without an agreement/license with the rights holder. Over the years companies selling mainly non fiction films traditionally used in classes did offer PPR rights with the sales. Frankly few of these films ever ended being used for public shows and the majority of them really did not have much of a general audience. To be fair there were films that might indeed have value for a film series, but honestly not most of them. To make matters more complicated companies often place a restriction of 50 people to be covered under a PPR showing which I find pretty silly, but legally they can do it (how they would enforce it is another matter).
As for the type of films you would actually want to show in a series, relatively few of them can in fact be BOUGHT with PPR, most would have to be licensed specifically for the series. There are indeed a number of companies ( Milestone, New Yorker, Kino, Icarus) that sell feature films with PPR rights, most titles are licensed by larger places ( mainly Swank & Criterion) and they can only "rent" the right to show the film not show it. Honestly this issue is not as muddled as some copyright issues that come up here. It is pretty basic, if you want to do a public film series you have to pay for it the same way you would pay for a speaker, a musical performance or the rights to a play. If you scrounged through your current collection you could probably find enough titles you bought with PPR to make a series, but I suspect nearly all of them would be non fiction titles you paid a pretty high price for in the first place. It is most unlikely you would have any fiction feature theatrical release films that you had purchased with PPR. I don't think it unreasonable that you should try to do a film series but to expect to do one for free is not exactly reasonable. I think you will find smaller companies in particular willing to let you show their films at a low price depending on the circumstances, but again not for free. On Mon, Aug 8, 2011 at 5:07 PM, Kathy Edwards <kat...@clemson.edu> wrote: > I’ve been exploring what latitude I have here at my institution to include > films on DVD in our collection in a film series on world cities. The aim of > my series would be to expose students to realms they have yet to imagine > (much less experience) and get them thinking and talking about their filmic > experience in an enlightening, horizon-expanding way. Which is where my > recently developed interest in PPRs comes into it: if my proposed series is > not shown in a scheduled class as part of a scheduled course, viewed only by > students registered in that course, can I show a film at all? My > understanding at this point is that the answer is “No.” **** > > ** ** > > Well then, does a so-called ‘institutional license’ or ‘institutional > price’ convey the right to include a film (by default, a documentary) in a > free, educational, on-campus film series? I’m assuming this depends upon the > terms of said license—unless this caveat amounts to allowing vendor > ‘licensing’ to constrain the right to use material for educational purposes. > Is ‘fair use’ legally bounded by an educational institution’s course > catalog? **** > > ** ** > > So I’ve been trying to understand the where/when/how of PPR within the > academic environment. (The ‘given’ in all this is that university counsels > are quite conservative in anything related to Fair Use. No surprise.)**** > > ** ** > > Ideally, my series would contain theatrical release films as well as > documentaries. But the more I learn, the more ‘ideal’ turns into ‘naïve’…* > *** > > ** ** > > *Kathy Edwards* > > *Art & Architecture Reference & Collection Development Librarian* > > *Emery A. Gunnin Architecture Library* > > *112 Lee Hall* > > *Clemson University* > > *Clemson SC 29634* > > *kat...@clemson.edu* > > ** ** > > ** ** > > *From:* videolib-boun...@lists.berkeley.edu [mailto: > videolib-boun...@lists.berkeley.edu] *On Behalf Of *Jessica Rosner > *Sent:* Monday, August 08, 2011 4:20 PM > *To:* videolib@lists.berkeley.edu > *Subject:* Re: [Videolib] Conf. Paper: ³Public Performance Rights > Management in Academic Libraries²**** > > ** ** > > With all due respect I think that is a terrible and misleading title. I > don't even think those claiming the right do digitize and stream films for > students in classes would use the term " Public Performance Rights" which > inevitably refers to showing a film to the public in public. Ironically I > think the presenter is falling for the misleading information or set up used > by some distributors who try to claim that an exempt "face to face" > classroom use requires a PPR license. The much more contentious question and > which IS in legal dispute is the use of films OUTSIDE the physical classroom > and whether there is some special exemption that covers that under some > reading of "fair use". I realize it is just the title and I presume the > usual issues will come up, but I think it starts with a false premise of > some kind.**** > > On Mon, Aug 8, 2011 at 3:39 PM, Deg Farrelly <deg.farre...@asu.edu> wrote: > **** > > >From INFODocket > > Looks like an interesting session at IFLA. > > -deg farrelly > > > -- > deg farrelly > Mail Code 1006 > Arizona State University > P.O. Box 871006 > Tempe, AZ 85287 > Phone: 480.965.1403 > Email: deg.farre...@asu.edu > > > ------ Forwarded Message > > > Feed: INFOdocket > Posted on: Sunday, August 07, 2011 9:40 AM > Subject: Conf. Paper: "Public Performance Rights Management in Academic > Libraries" > > This paper will be presented at the World Library and Information Congress > : 77th IFLA General Conference and Assembly on August 17, 2011. Title: > "Public Performance Rights Management in Academic Libraries" Author: Laura > Jenenmann; George Mason University Libraries, Fairfax, VA From the Abstract: > This paper will provide an overview of public performance rights for using > [...] > > View article... < > http://infodocket.com/2011/08/07/conf-paper-public-performance-rights-management-in-academic-libraries/ > > > > > ------ End of Forwarded Message > > VIDEOLIB is intended to encourage the broad and lively discussion of issues > relating to the selection, evaluation, acquisition,bibliographic control, > preservation, and use of current and evolving video formats in libraries and > related institutions. It is hoped that the list will serve as an effective > working tool for video librarians, as well as a channel of communication > between libraries,educational institutions, and video producers and > distributors.**** > > > > > -- > Jessica Rosner > Media Consultant > 224-545-3897 (cell) > 212-627-1785 (land line) > jessicapros...@gmail.com**** > > VIDEOLIB is intended to encourage the broad and lively discussion of issues > relating to the selection, evaluation, acquisition,bibliographic control, > preservation, and use of current and evolving video formats in libraries and > related institutions. It is hoped that the list will serve as an effective > working tool for video librarians, as well as a channel of communication > between libraries,educational institutions, and video producers and > distributors. > > -- Jessica Rosner Media Consultant 224-545-3897 (cell) 212-627-1785 (land line) jessicapros...@gmail.com
VIDEOLIB is intended to encourage the broad and lively discussion of issues relating to the selection, evaluation, acquisition,bibliographic control, preservation, and use of current and evolving video formats in libraries and related institutions. It is hoped that the list will serve as an effective working tool for video librarians, as well as a channel of communication between libraries,educational institutions, and video producers and distributors.
