Tech Forum Archive

Copyright Protection for Movie Nights

10 postsstarted by tylerkinglee 23,539 viewsoriginal topic

tylerkinglee
New Member
#1
There's no question that we all love a good movie. And, what's better than sharing a favorite movie, song, or other types of produced media with our friends! Sometimes we use non-Church media to illustrate points in a lesson, play popular music during a casual basketball game in the cultural hall, or for fun events with members like Movie Nights! While it's not likely that the producers, talent, or other copyright owners would be present in such an instance, using such media in a public venue - even Church-related events where there is no charge - is almost always an infringement of copyright laws that protect the intellectual property, content, mechanics, and performances of those who own the copyright. It may seem like a simple thing, and "no big deal" to take a copy of your favorite new Disney movie to the church building to show for Mutual activity, but you still have to have permission. You can read more about these laws at the Motion Picture Licensing Corporation's website (www.mplc.org). In the United States, there is also an organization that maintains what is called the Church Video License (www.cvli.org) by which holders of the CVLI are authorized to display selected movies under its collective agreement in Church-related events and activities, without having to seek permission and log the details of each occurrence.

This post is not a commercial or advertisement for these organizations. I am a member of the Church and have worked in the entertainment industry for over 20 years. I currently work for a major entertainment streaming service. For years I've seen and have even participated in these events and activities and always thought to myself "Well, I'm not in charge of this activity" or "I don't want to get involved, many non-profit organizations do this, and it's relatively harmless." But, recently I found myself in a calling where these types of events (eg. Movie Nights) have been requested, and I'm now responsible for organizing these events! I'm in the process of trying to find out if the LDS Church at large has a CVLI license that covers members throughout the Church. Or, does each ward/stake need to have its own license to be able to properly use such media in church-related events and activities? Thank you, and please advise!
russellhltn
Community Administrator
#2
tylerkinglee wrote: Sun May 29, 2022 12:35 pm I'm in the process of trying to find out if the LDS Church at large has a CVLI license that covers members throughout the Church. Or, does each ward/stake need to have its own license to be able to properly use such media in church-related events and activities? Thank you, and please advise!
General Handbook 38.8.10 talks about copyrights. There is no indication of any license except for songs found in certain church publications.

Some excerpts of that section:
Can I show commercial audiovisual products at Church functions?
Generally not. Church members should not violate warnings and restrictions that are placed on commercial audiovisual products. This includes movies, other video, and music. Using commercial audiovisual products at Church functions generally requires permission from the copyright owners.

What permission is needed to present musical and theatrical productions?
Productions that are owned by the Church or IRI may be performed in Church settings without permission from Church headquarters. If a copyrighted production is not owned by the Church, members must obtain the copyright owner’s permission to perform all or part of it in a Church setting. Usually the copyright owner requires fees or royalties even if no charge is made for the performances. All presentations should have the approval of local priesthood leaders.
As you know, most DVDs indicate they're licensed for "home use". Showing at church is not "home use", so permission is required even if a member owns the DVD. Similar restrictions are in place for streaming services.
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lajackson
Community Moderators
#3
I have never known the Church to have any sort of blanket presentation rights. In my experience, it has always been up to the ward or stake to make the request to the copyright holder, usually for each use. i suppose there are still special arrangements for situations where a unit does a lot of this sort of activity, but I was never in a place where there were enough activities to make it worthwhile to license more than one or two uses at a time.
sbradshaw
Community Moderators
#4
If your ward or stake only has one or two movie nights a year, it's probably cheaper to get one-time licenses for each showing rather than subscribing to an annual license. In my previous stake we had a stake family history event where we showed the film Coco. We got a one-time license to show it (one of the high councilors took care of getting the license for the stake, so I'm not sure which service he used).
Samuel Bradshaw • If you desire to serve God, you are called to the work.
jrboland
New Member
#5
As everyone here agrees, you have to have permission/a license to show a movie at church. I did contact the church legal department about this several years ago, and as long as you are able to obtain a license or the owner's permission, it is acceptable to show a movie. The church handbook says "generally speaking" because so many members don't take this necessary step and violate copyright laws.

About 8 years ago our ward purchased an annual license through CVLI and we've renewed it every year since. The license covers the building location, so we now share the license cost with the other ward in the building (stake center). I show a double-feature every 5-6 weeks (more than enough to justify the cost of the license) and provide refreshments. We have several college families with young kids, so they love being able to see movies without having to spend a fortune to go to the movie theater. The best part is they often bring non-member friends, so it's a nice way to get non-members into the church building.

If you're only going to show one or two movies a year, you're probably better off getting a one-time license. SWANK offers one-time licenses. We showed The Incredibles for a ward activity when it was new and paid SWANK about $75 back then; I don't know how much they charge today since we use CVLI now instead. With CVLI, we can show as many movies as we want during the year. The license also covers YM/YW activities at church (think Wednesday nights), showing movies in nursery during a RS activity, etc.; that's the selling point that bishops like is knowing they are covered for such events. You just have to make sure the particular movie being shown is covered by verifying that CVLI has an agreement with the USA theatrical distributor. In 8 years, I've only come across a couple of movies that they didn't cover; they cover all the big studios and several others. What usually isn't covered are religious movies, i.e. Excel Entertainment, etc. Very ironic. Deseret Book gave me permission to show 17 Miracles.

I've had stake presidents and high councilors come to me over the years to ask if I'm showing movies legally. When I explain to them what we are doing, they don't have a problem with it and support me.

This isn't meant to be an advertisement for CVLI or SWANK, but I've done a lot of research and they're the only two companies I've found that allow you to legally show movies at church. If you want to get a CVLI license, just make sure you use it often enough to justify the cost of the license, or you'll have a hard time getting leadership to renew it after the first year. I haven't had any problems since I show so many movies. BTW, the movies we show are considered optional activities and don't take the place of regular ward activities. It's possible to have a formal ward activity occasionally, and we've done a few, but we like showing movies more often than we could justify them being official activities.

I have a large projector, surround sound system, a screen that covers the entire stage opening in the gym, and a large popcorn machine (all personal items), so it makes for a theater-like experience. I know that's not the norm for most people, so keep the frequency and experience in mind when deciding between a one-time license and an annual license.

I had the same thought as the person asking the original question. It would be nice if the church had a blanket CVLI license but none so far. When we renewed our license a couple months ago, I noticed on the renewal letter that our CVLI contact is now based in Salt Lake; I've always contacted someone in Los Angeles in the past, so it looks like CVLI is working with several church units. We paid $289 this year to cover the wards in our building (500 or less combined average weekly attendance for the two wards). The church spends more than this for the two wards to each have an annual Zoom license, and they pay for Zoom licenses for every ward in North America, so maybe someday...
russellhltn
Community Administrator
#6
jrboland wrote: Sun Jan 08, 2023 7:03 pm I have a large projector, surround sound system, a screen that covers the entire stage opening in the gym, and a large popcorn machine (all personal items), so it makes for a theater-like experience. I know that's not the norm for most people, so keep the frequency and experience in mind when deciding between a one-time license and an annual license.
That's nice, but that's creating a heck of a challenge for the next person with that calling when it's time for you to move on.
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tylerkinglee
New Member
#7
jrboland wrote: Sun Jan 08, 2023 7:03 pm As everyone here agrees, you have to have permission/a license to show a movie at church. I did contact the church legal department about this several years ago, and as long as you are able to obtain a license or the owner's permission, it is acceptable to show a movie. The church handbook says "generally speaking" because so many members don't take this necessary step and violate copyright laws.

About 8 years ago our ward purchased an annual license through CVLI and we've renewed it every year since. The license covers the building location, so we now share the license cost with the other ward in the building (stake center). I show a double-feature every 5-6 weeks (more than enough to justify the cost of the license) and provide refreshments. We have several college families with young kids, so they love being able to see movies without having to spend a fortune to go to the movie theater. The best part is they often bring non-member friends, so it's a nice way to get non-members into the church building.

If you're only going to show one or two movies a year, you're probably better off getting a one-time license. SWANK offers one-time licenses. We showed The Incredibles for a ward activity when it was new and paid SWANK about $75 back then; I don't know how much they charge today since we use CVLI now instead. With CVLI, we can show as many movies as we want during the year. The license also covers YM/YW activities at church (think Wednesday nights), showing movies in nursery during a RS activity, etc.; that's the selling point that bishops like is knowing they are covered for such events. You just have to make sure the particular movie being shown is covered by verifying that CVLI has an agreement with the USA theatrical distributor. In 8 years, I've only come across a couple of movies that they didn't cover; they cover all the big studios and several others. What usually isn't covered are religious movies, i.e. Excel Entertainment, etc. Very ironic. Deseret Book gave me permission to show 17 Miracles.

I've had stake presidents and high councilors come to me over the years to ask if I'm showing movies legally. When I explain to them what we are doing, they don't have a problem with it and support me.

This isn't meant to be an advertisement for CVLI or SWANK, but I've done a lot of research and they're the only two companies I've found that allow you to legally show movies at church. If you want to get a CVLI license, just make sure you use it often enough to justify the cost of the license, or you'll have a hard time getting leadership to renew it after the first year. I haven't had any problems since I show so many movies. BTW, the movies we show are considered optional activities and don't take the place of regular ward activities. It's possible to have a formal ward activity occasionally, and we've done a few, but we like showing movies more often than we could justify them being official activities.

I have a large projector, surround sound system, a screen that covers the entire stage opening in the gym, and a large popcorn machine (all personal items), so it makes for a theater-like experience. I know that's not the norm for most people, so keep the frequency and experience in mind when deciding between a one-time license and an annual license.

I had the same thought as the person asking the original question. It would be nice if the church had a blanket CVLI license but none so far. When we renewed our license a couple months ago, I noticed on the renewal letter that our CVLI contact is now based in Salt Lake; I've always contacted someone in Los Angeles in the past, so it looks like CVLI is working with several church units. We paid $289 this year to cover the wards in our building (500 or less combined average weekly attendance for the two wards). The church spends more than this for the two wards to each have an annual Zoom license, and they pay for Zoom licenses for every ward in North America, so maybe someday...
Thanks for this response, jrborland! This is super helpful! I think we're going to go that same route and get a CVLI or SWANK license annually that can be shared across the 5 wards that share our building.
lorihogan13
New Member
#8
Does it break the copyright law of I show a movie on my home as a YW activity night?
russellhltn
Community Administrator
#9
lorihogan13 wrote: Sun Aug 20, 2023 8:28 am Does it break the copyright law of I show a movie on my home as a YW activity night?
Good question. While the movie is being shown in your own home, the gathering isn't just friends but an official church activity.

You might want to look for the fine print on "home use only". It' possible it may depend on the film or studio it came from.
Have you searched the Help Center? Try doing a Google search and adding "site:churchofjesuschrist.org/help" to the search criteria.

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jsorens6
Member
#10
Super helpful information, thanks!



jrboland wrote: Sun Jan 08, 2023 7:03 pm As everyone here agrees, you have to have permission/a license to show a movie at church. I did contact the church legal department about this several years ago, and as long as you are able to obtain a license or the owner's permission, it is acceptable to show a movie. The church handbook says "generally speaking" because so many members don't take this necessary step and violate copyright laws.

About 8 years ago our ward purchased an annual license through CVLI and we've renewed it every year since. The license covers the building location, so we now share the license cost with the other ward in the building (stake center). I show a double-feature every 5-6 weeks (more than enough to justify the cost of the license) and provide refreshments. We have several college families with young kids, so they love being able to see movies without having to spend a fortune to go to the movie theater. The best part is they often bring non-member friends, so it's a nice way to get non-members into the church building.

If you're only going to show one or two movies a year, you're probably better off getting a one-time license. SWANK offers one-time licenses. We showed The Incredibles for a ward activity when it was new and paid SWANK about $75 back then; I don't know how much they charge today since we use CVLI now instead. With CVLI, we can show as many movies as we want during the year. The license also covers YM/YW activities at church (think Wednesday nights), showing movies in nursery during a RS activity, etc.; that's the selling point that bishops like is knowing they are covered for such events. You just have to make sure the particular movie being shown is covered by verifying that CVLI has an agreement with the USA theatrical distributor. In 8 years, I've only come across a couple of movies that they didn't cover; they cover all the big studios and several others. What usually isn't covered are religious movies, i.e. Excel Entertainment, etc. Very ironic. Deseret Book gave me permission to show 17 Miracles.

I've had stake presidents and high councilors come to me over the years to ask if I'm showing movies legally. When I explain to them what we are doing, they don't have a problem with it and support me.

This isn't meant to be an advertisement for CVLI or SWANK, but I've done a lot of research and they're the only two companies I've found that allow you to legally show movies at church. If you want to get a CVLI license, just make sure you use it often enough to justify the cost of the license, or you'll have a hard time getting leadership to renew it after the first year. I haven't had any problems since I show so many movies. BTW, the movies we show are considered optional activities and don't take the place of regular ward activities. It's possible to have a formal ward activity occasionally, and we've done a few, but we like showing movies more often than we could justify them being official activities.

I have a large projector, surround sound system, a screen that covers the entire stage opening in the gym, and a large popcorn machine (all personal items), so it makes for a theater-like experience. I know that's not the norm for most people, so keep the frequency and experience in mind when deciding between a one-time license and an annual license.

I had the same thought as the person asking the original question. It would be nice if the church had a blanket CVLI license but none so far. When we renewed our license a couple months ago, I noticed on the renewal letter that our CVLI contact is now based in Salt Lake; I've always contacted someone in Los Angeles in the past, so it looks like CVLI is working with several church units. We paid $289 this year to cover the wards in our building (500 or less combined average weekly attendance for the two wards). The church spends more than this for the two wards to each have an annual Zoom license, and they pay for Zoom licenses for every ward in North America, so maybe someday...