Swank Movie Licensing

[In 2019, we got some questions about Swank movie licenses, streaming services, and schools, and posted the answer here: https://wnylrc.org/raq/showing-movies-school. It’s now 2025, and with new content in the Swank licenses, we got this follow-up question from a librarian working with a school district…]

To answer this question in 2025, we requested a copy of the updated/new license, because just like cheese, slab-on-grade floors, and skin care regimens, contracts change over time.

What qualifies as a legally owned copy of a movie? I understand that the physical copy, when loaned is transferrable and can be covered with an Umbrella License from SWANK or other companies. I believe that streaming services do not qualify as an owned copy as they have licensing that does not work with the Umbrella License. What about movie rentals from iTunes?

Schools, libraries, prisons, museums, student clubs, companies…from time to time, these places just want to hand out snacks, and let people watch a movie.

The problem is, the simple act of gathering people to watch a movie is governed by an intricate web of copyright law, and the legal filaments of that web change from place to place.

Our school district offers a Community Education program that offers courses on a broad range of topics to the community. In some of these Community Education classes the instructor may want to show a DVD movie or stream a movie that is related to the course. Would this violate fair use and copyright?

Flying at 10,000 feet, the answer to the first question is: if the class in in person (not online), AND the institution is non-profit, AND the only viewers are the instructor and the students enrolled in the class, AND the viewing is in the classroom or academic facilities, AND the content is part of the curriculum, AND the copy was legally obtained…then the showing is allowed under Section 110

The question, as a follow up to the Oct 31, 2019 post about showing movies and Swank.

I must be very clear: Unless I obtained a written representation signed by an officer of Netflix, I would never advise a corporate client[1] to rely on the Swank umbrella license to show a video from a “personal and non-commercial” Netflix account.

Why is this?  Because the one license does not trump the other.