Recently Asked Questions (RAQs)

[In 2019, we got some questions about Swank movie licenses, streaming services, and schools, and posted the answer here: /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…]

This is an excellent response[1] and I shared it with the district I’m having conversations with. However, the SWANK Movie License now states “the license enables use of any legal formats licensed for home use only.” Can they legally put that on their movie license?

If a teacher teaches a novel in school, can they show the DVD of the movie under fair use?

I've seen libraries take pictures of book covers and promote them on their library social media page, and was wondering if the same policy holds for movies. Can we take a picture of the front covers our new DVDs and promote them on Facebook? Or is it preferred that patrons browse our new DVDs in the library and/or on our library catalog?

Even though we purchased a movie license, I do know that due to copyright laws, we are not allowed to promote on social media any movies that we are showing at the library. Patrons are asked to call us and inquire what movie we are showing. Thanks for the help!

I've had an interesting question posed to me by two Social Studies teachers and... I have a feeling this may be a more pervasive issue.

A teacher checked out a :50 video (DVD) from the school library he wants to show to his class. Typically, while the students are watching the video, they will answer/respond to a worksheet the teacher has provided to them. How does the teacher show this video to his Remote-Only students at home?

Teachers at our school like to use pictures from movies to decorate their doors.  What rules apply to this?