CURRENTLY IN VIDEOS

Law and the Video Generation
Michael Dick

Be careful--by showing a video in church, you could be breaking the law. Unless your church has a license for public performance video viewing, renting a video at Blockbuster and showing it at a youth group social is illegal. Hollywood producers are happy to have their movies shown in public places such as churches, but not at low home-use-only prices--be they purchase or rental. The fee for a public showing is, of course, considerably higher. A number of Hollywood producers are exasperated by widespread abuse and are seeking out offenders and pressing charges.

The Motion Picture Licensing Corporation (MPLC) is a US-based independent organization that licenses churches, schools and other organizations to show videos publicly. MPLC holds exclusive authorization from many major motion picture studios to provide an umbrella license. It works much the same as Christian Copyright Licensing Incorporated does for music. An annual umbrella license grants unlimited showings of many home videos. Unfortunately, at this time, MPLC cannot offer valid licenses in Canada. (For more information on MPLC call 1-800-462-8855.)

In the field of Christian motion pictures and videos, the laws are similar. Many Christian videos are also intended for home-use only. Given the reasonable purchase price, the law restricts usage to private use in a home. In addition to home-use, Gospel Films for example, allows its videos to be used in "face-to-face instructional settings". This covers instructional use in a Sunday school class or a small group Bible study but would not allow using a video in an auditorium or sanctuary. Videos are often available at a higher cost in public exhibition versions. By purchasing these versions, churches and lending libraries gain the right to show the videos in a group setting and the right to loan them to their members. Different organizations have differing policies. A number of Focus on the Family videos have a rider that allows church and non-profit showings. The copyright warning does, however, prohibit charging an admission fee and the use of the video for fundraising purposes.

A church library is free to loan out videos that it has purchased, provided they are not restricted to home-use only. Films for Christ policy clearly states that "Home-use-only videos may not be placed in the church lending library." Church libraries should carefully check the copyright restrictions for each video that they have and, if necessary, obtain the public exhibition rights.

Organizations such as the Eagles Nest Resource Centre in Langley, B.C. purchase the necessary license for public exhibition for each of their resources. By renting a video from these organizations, you have the right to show the video to your church in whatever setting you choose. These organizations are careful to keep separate those videos that are available for home-use only and those that can be shown publicly. The B.C. MB Conference Resource Centre at Columbia Bible College is presently ensuring that it has public exhibition rights for each of the videos in its collection.

Improper video usage is unfair to the copyright owner and cuts into the revenue needed to make future productions. If in doubt about proper usage refer to the copyright labels. Copyright holders must be contacted and permission obtained where necessary to ensure that you are not violating copyright laws.

A final word. If you have taped something from TV on your VCR and plan to show even a portion of it at church, you will be breaking the law. The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation has created a sales division, and many of its educational programs are available for purchase in video format. (CBC sales: (416) 205-3506.)

Michael Dick is Executive Secretary for Resource Ministries for the General Conference of Mennonite Brethren Churches.

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