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Guidelines for Streaming Movies and Music Content in the Classroom

  • When you're using a film, video, or TV program in a face-to-face classroom for teaching or educational purposes as part of the curriculum, such performance or display of the entire work may be allowed without permission under the face to face teaching exemption at 17 U.S.C. §110(1).
  • When showing a film in an online class, it may be considered fair use depending on how much of the film is being shown and for what purposes. If fair use does not apply, you will need a streaming license or view the film through a licensed streaming film provider.  Listed below are some popular streaming services and their terms of use along with a link to our paid service Swank K12.
  • In most other cases, especially when the film, video, radio, or TV program is being shown as part of an event, you need permission--often in the form of a public performance rights (PPR) license--to perform or show the copyrighted work.
  • The Wenatchee School District currently subscribes to Swank K12 which contain feature films, therefor you are confined to traditional playing methods such as DVDs or Swank K12.  Each school has at least one DVD player that can be checked out for this purpose and connected to a TV, projector, or your computer.
Streaming Service Allowed in the Classroom for whole class viewing? Link to Terms
Swank K12 YES Link to WSD Swank
  Swank K12 is a paid service that provides 400 titles of feature films with 400 additional titles by request.  Films are to be used in a curricular setting and when requesting films that are not immediatly available, your request must justify the viewing for curricular reasons.  Staff must create an account in Swank K12 in accordance with our policies.  If you need an account you may request an account using a ticket through our support system.
Other Non WSD Paid/Supported Services
Apple TV+ NO Terms of Use
  Apple has not made provisions for educational screenings of its content. While classroom use would be non-commercial, it would not be considered personal/private use. Streaming Apple TV+ content in a classroom setting would be a direct violation of licensing terms as listed under All Services as: - "You may use the Services and Content only for personal, noncommercial purposes
Amazon Prime NO Terms of Use
  Amazon has not made provisions for educational screenings of its content. While classroom use would be non-commercial, it would not be considered personal/private use. Streaming Amazon content in a classroom setting would be a direct violation of licensing terms (section 4h).
Disney+ / ESPN+ NO Terms of Use
  Disney has not made provisions for educational screenings of its content through personal accounts. While classroom use would be non-commercial, it would not be considered personal use. Streaming Disney+ / ESPN+ content in a classroom setting would be a direct violation of licensing terms (section 3).
HBO NO Terms of Use
  HBO has not made provisions for educational screenings of its content through personal accounts. While classroom use would be non-commercial, it would not be considered personal use. Streaming HBO content in a classroom setting would be a direct violation of licensing terms (section 6a).
Hulu NO

Terms of Use

  Hulu has not made provisions for educational screenings of its content. While classroom use would be non-commercial, it would not be considered personal use. Streaming Hulu content in a classroom setting would be a direct violation of licensing terms (section 3.2).
Netflix NO Terms of Use
  Netflix has not made provisions for educational screenings of its content other than the documentaries listed below that are available on thier YouTube channel. While classroom use would be non-commercial, it would not be considered personal use. Streaming Netflix content in a classroom setting would be a direct violation of licensing terms (section 4.2).
Netflix Documentaries

Netflix has created a YouTube playlist of some of its educational documentaries for instructors to stream in their online classes.

Educational Documentaries | Netflix's YouTube Playlist

Streaming Music Services - All services have "business" plans that can be purchased to give you the licensing for public listening.  Most range from $30 monthly and up.
Service Allowed in the Classroom for Whole Class Listening? Terms
Apple Music, Pandora, Sirius XM, Spotify NO Terms of Use
  Services have not made provisions for educational streaming of its content. While classroom use would be non-commercial, it would not be considered personal/private use. Streaming Music content in a classroom setting would be a direct violation of licensing terms as listed "You may use the Services and Content only for personal, noncommercial purposes" 
Traditional Radio Stations with Ads (KPQ, KW3, KISSIN, KISW, etc) YES  

Here are some links to free and legal video streaming content:

  • PBS Videos - PBS streams some of its content freely online; however, what is available is subject to change without notice.
  • TED Talks - TED is a nonprofit devoted to spreading ideas, usually in the form of short, powerful talks (18 minutes or less). 
  • OpenCulture.com - A thoughtful collection of links to hundreds of Indie Films, Film Noir, Documentaries & More. 
  • Annenberg Foundation Learner Resources - Teacher resources across the curriculum - short films on a variety of subjects.
  • OpenVideo Project - A Project of the School of Library and Information Science at UNC Chapel Hill. 
  • Top Documentary Films - More than 1200 documentary films available for streaming.
  • FolkStreams - A National Preserve of Documentary Films about American Roots Cultures streamed with essays about the traditions and film-making. 

 

Attribution to George A. Smathers Library at the University of Florida
Attribution to Francis Wilson Thompson Library
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

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