CMI Theater Reservation

Theater Procedures & Reservation:

  1. If you are a chartered student organization, please submit a form to NMSU Campus Activity. Nathan Lefever will receive an email from them confirming reservation of the theater space (Milton Hall 171).
  2. Contact Swank Motion Picture, Inc. or Criterion Pictures USA to get the rights (license) to screen a movie.
  3. Fill out the CMI Theater Request Form

Features of the CMI Theater:

  • 7.1 Surround Sound System
  • 4K and HD Projection Options
  • 4K Blu-Ray Player
  • ProTools HD system and D-Command module for theatrical mixing
  • HDMI connection for external laptops and devices

Fees:

  • All Participants (Space Only) : $150 per hour, in 1-hour increments. Example: a 1.5 hour event/movie is charged 2 hours, or $300.00. (Space Usage Fee includes installed room lighting, heating and cooling, unlocking and locking of doors).
  • Use of the projection and sound equipment installed within the theatre requires a CMI Technology staff person at a rate of $25.00 per hour in 1-hour increments.
  • The applicant is responsible for cleaning the theater after the event. Failure to clean up as required shall result in an additional $25.00 charge.

Usage Fee is determined by the duration of the event and must be paid before the scheduled date of the event. If you have any questions about the theater, do not hesitate to email: Nathan Lefever, nlefever@nmsu.edu . 

Public Performance Rights

YES -- you do not need public performance rights:

  • If the showing of the video is open to the public, such as a screening at a public event, OR
  • If the showing is in a public space where access is not restricted, such as a a showing of a film for a class but in a venue that is open to anyone to attend, OR
  • If persons attending are outside the normal circle of family and friends, such as a showing of a film by a club or organization.

NO  -- you do not need public performance rights:

  • If you are privately viewing the film in your home with only family and friends in attendance, OR
  • If you are an instructor showing the film in class as part of the course curriculum to officially enrolled students in a classroom that is not open to others to attend, OR
  • If the film is in the public domain.

Individuals and organizations are responsible for obtaining public performance rights for all non-exempt showings. There are two ways to obtain PPR, also known as permission or a license:

1.   Contact the copyright holder directly, or contact the distributor.  If the distributor has the authority from the copyright owner to grant licenses, to purchase public performance rights or to request permission for a particular public performance use, permission or license can be directly obtained.

2.   Contact the licensing service representing the particular studio or title ( note - this will generally be required for all feature length films). Services vary in the types of licensing offered and the scope of materials represented. Some of the companies that provide (for a fee) public performance licenses are listed below:​

Contact your department's library for additional assistance in locating the appropriate licensing agent for your particular film.

The Copyright Act at §110(1) (face to face teaching exemption) allows for the performance or display of video or film in a classroom where instruction takes place in classroom with enrolled students physically present and the film is related to the curricular goals of the course. The TEACH Act amendment to the Copyright Act, codified at § 110(2), permits the performance of a reasonable and limited portion of films in an online classroom. Instructors may also rely upon fair use for showing films in an online course, although showing an entire film online may or may not constitute fair use. Whenever the goals of a course allow, relying on clips or short portions of a film or video for online instruction is preferable. UF instructors may contact  Course Reserves  for additional support.

 

Club and Class FAQ

It depends. Ordinarily, the showing of a film by a group or club is for entertainment purposes and thus PPR is required. However, if the group's purpose and activities are ordinarily educational nature and the showing of the film is in furtherance of those educational purposes and activities, then it may be fair use to show the film without PPR. 

The showing of a film as part of a film series is viewed as entertainment even if hosted or sponsored by an educational group or club. No matter how educational the setting or how tied to the curriculum, this is generally considered not to be fair use and PPR must be obtained.

It doesn't matter where the film you are planning to show comes from -- your own collection, the Library's or the corner video rental shop. The analysis is the same. If an exception under copyright law does not apply (e.g. fair use, face to face teaching), then you must obtain PPR prior to showing the film.

Under copyright law, copyright holders have the exclusive right of performing or displaying their copyrighted works, including films or videos. The "Home Use Only" warning at the beginning of most DVDs refers to this exclusive right of performance and display. However, the law also has an exception for performing or displaying works in a face to face teaching situation where the work being performed or displayed is related to the curriculum and only being performed or displayed for students enrolled in a course at a non-profit educational institution (such as UF). Therefore, under this exception, DVDs with the "Home Use Only" warning can be played in a face to face classroom. For online courses, refer to fair use for determining how much of the film can be shown.

Generally, yes, this is permissible under fair use. Apply the four factors of fair use to determine whether the film in question may be used for this purpose and how much of the film may be shown. New exemptions under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act permit educators to "rip" clips from videos for educational purposes. 

Subscription services such as Netflix and Amazon have very detailed membership agreements that may forbid the streaming of subscribed content in a classroom or other public venue. When you agree to the terms of membership, you enter into a contract and the terms of that contract trump any applicable exception in copyright. Therefore, if the membership agreement with Netflix prohibits the showing of the film in a classroom, you are bound by the terms of that agreement even if the face to face teaching exception would otherwise allow it.

Resources for Free and Legal Streaming Video

There are many sources for streaming video content available that students can access on their own. For instance, subscription services Netflix and Hulu offer thousands of documentaries, mainstream film titles, and television programs on a streaming basis for an affordable monthly fee that most students likely already pay. Additionally, sites like Amazon and iTunes offer inexpensive streaming video rental. Instructors are encouraged to investigate availability of videos through these subscription services that they wish students to view and require students, as part of the class, to have one of these low-cost monthly services or to rent movies on their own time. Further, many commercial distributors of films offer licensing of streaming content, although the cost varies across vendors and is dependent upon a variety of factors, such as class size.  There are also many online sources for free and legal streaming content: