I was happy to have the chance to co-author this blog post with Tucky Taylor and Kyle Courtney about screening films online, especially with the Zoom “Share my screen” functionality. I wish the answer were cleaner! There may never have been a better example of how the law has been warped, both by rights holders’ moral panic about digital piracy (which led them to lobby for strictures in the TEACH Act that have rendered it an unworkable mess) and by their massively increased power in the age of licensed, streamed media. A teacher can perform or display ANYTHING for ANY REASON with ZERO WORRY if they’re using physical media in a physical classroom. Now contrast that with the mish-mash of angst that you have to work through to do even the most obviously legit activities in an online environment.

That wasn’t the point of our post - we just wanted to try to help people puzzle through. But I can’t resist this meta-observation! Now, please do enjoy:

COVID-19, Copyright, & Library Superpowers (Part III)