A public screening is the showing of moving pictures to an audience in a public place. The event screened may be live or recorded, free or paid, and may use film, video, or a broadcast method such as satellite or closed-circuit television. Popular events for public screenings include films, sporting events, and concerts. Private screening refers to the screening of a commercially made film to a group of people somewhere other than one of their homes. Private screening can be legally complex, as the rules and regulations vary from country to country.
Showing a video to a group of people outside of the home is legally regarded as a public showing, and is therefore in breach of copyright for DVDs/videos that have been purchased or hired for domestic use. To organise a group screening, permission from the copyright owner of the title in question will need to be obtained. Obtaining such rights clearances can be a complex procedure.
For certain types of screening ("non-theatrical" screening), it is possible to hire a copy of a film from its distributor with the rights already cleared. The primary non-theatrical distributors of feature films on DVD, video and 16mm in Britain are the BFI and Filmbank Distributors.[2]
Another option is to buy a blanket licence for the year known as a 'Public Video Screening Licence' which may work out cheaper if showing film is to be a regular event.[3]
