MPLC licenses

["Lea, Ben" <bjlea@umr.edu>]

Gentles,

Forgive me if this is a touch off-topic, but my director has asked me to
investigate.  Like a lot of libraries, we have a handful of TVs here for
viewing our videotape & DVD collection.  And annually, we pay a fairly
nominal fee to the Motion Picture Licensing Corporation which allows us to
"publicly perform certain lawfully manufactured pre-recorded home
videocassettes and videodiscs".  (Well, "fairly nominal" in terms of
library budgets -- it'd be enough to finance a pretty nifty trip to
Williams-Sonoma or something for me...)  A previous director wanted to
stay well on the sunny side of care when it came to fair use, but the
current administration isn't sure whether watching a video on those TVs
constitutes a public performance.

Are other libraries paying that fee as well?  Or, are we mis-allocating
funds that could be used to buy more DVDs?  Please reply off-list; I'll
summarize if there's interest.

Thanks,

Ben Lea -- bjlea@umr.edu
Reference Librarian / Electronic Resources Coordinator
University of Missouri-Rolla
573.341.4007