Hello,
I'm sorry to bother everyone with this but I belong to a TV Club at a local college and we're trying to organize a fundraiser. There was one idea where the club would show movies at the college movie theater. The main problem with this is that if we charge people to see the movies it would probably violate copyright laws. Does anyone know a way to show movies, or even somehow get around it, without breaking copyright laws ? Also if anyone has any fundraiser ideas I would really appreciate it. Thank you for your time.
Dave
Any form of "public performance" of a film without permission is a breach of copyright law, regardless of whether you charge for it or not.
In saying that, distributors want to make money from their films all you need to do is come to some arrangement to obtain a license for your club to show the film, and pay them a percentage of the charge.
Make a list of the movies you want to show... the more from the same studio the better because a) the deal will be more attractive to them, and b) it means less buggering about with letters for you.
Write to the distributor (use the Internet to find their address) in your country, politely explain what you want to do and that it's a fund raiser, blah blah blah, and come to an arrangement.
Ben C.
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filmmaking.net
(Incorporating the Internet Filmmaker's FAQ)
Please note the opinions expressed here are those of the author only and do not constitute legal advice. The author cannot accept and liability whatsoever for inaccurate or outdated information contained within.
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Benjamin Craig
Editor-in-Chief, filmmaking.net
