This guide lists services that support using media in courses at the University of Denver. Each option has a description of resources available and brief explanation of relevant copyright principles. Faculty will decide which option is most appropriate based on their pedagogical needs. The Office of Teaching and Learning and the University Libraries Research Center can assist you in finding a video that meets fair use criteria and meets your teaching needs.
Requests to place DVDs on reserve should be directed to Course Reserves. Please carefully review all the options below and our Video Conversion and Fair Use pages. Another helpful resource regarding use of copyrighted material in Canvas is available here.
Service: Library DVDs can be checked out to professors for viewing in face-to-face classroom teaching. In addition, you may be able to use your personal Netflix account for classroom screening for some educational content in Netflix.
Copyright: Section 110(1) of the Copyright Act of 1976 permits instructors at nonprofit educational institutions to show entire videos in the course of face-to-face classroom teaching provided that the DVD was lawfully made.
Service: The library has access to hundreds of thousands of videos in many streaming media collections.
Locations for Viewing: You may place a link in your Canvas site so students will be able to view the video from any location with Internet access.
Copyright: The Libraries have license agreements with the database providers to make these videos available in streaming format for University of Denver faculty, staff, and students.
Service: Library staff will search to determine whether a particular video or episode is available on a licensed free site, such as a network websites, Hulu, or YouTube.
Copyright: These videos and episodes are available in streaming format at no cost on licensed sites.
Service: Libraries staff can notify you of low-cost streaming options for streaming videos and TV episodes from commercial services, such as Amazon, iTunes, Google Play, HuluPlus, or Netflix. There are costs associated with streaming media on these platforms.
Copyright: These videos and episodes are available in streaming format on licensed sites at a low cost to the student.
Service: Individual students or small groups of students can check out videos and DVD drives (some of which include headphones) from the Lending Desk and watch them in the library on their laptops.
Locations for Viewing: The library has Group Study Rooms that can be used by students and faculty.
Copyright: The library purchases DVDs for the collection, and they may be loaned out for personal viewing under the first sale doctrine.
Service: Many licensed databases provide ways of creating clips , and faculty may create clips if they are Fair Use. Please see our Video Conversion guide for more information.
Locations for Viewing: You may place a link in your Canvas site so students will be able to view the video from any location with Internet access.
Copyright: The TEACH Act permits streaming reasonable and limited portions of a video for educational purposes. In addition, streaming limited portions of a video or tv show could qualify as fair use based on an analysis of the four fair use factors:
Service: If you own rights or have obtained rights to use a video, the library will stream the video in its entirety. Some DVDs can be purchased with streaming rights, and those titles may also be streamed in their entirety.
Locations for Viewing: You may place a link in your Canvas site so students will be able to view the video from any location with Internet access.
Copyright: In the three cases described above, you own the copyright or have permission or a license to stream the full work, so there would be no copyright issue.
Service: If rights to a video cannot be obtained through any of the methods listed above, in-library use is not practical, and showing clips will not meet the pedagogical needs of the faculty, a fair use evaluation for streaming the video in its entirety will be required. Our Video Conversion page can guide you in making the fair use determination.
Locations for Viewing: You may place a link in your Canvas site so students will be able to view the video from any location with Internet access.
Copyright: There may be circumstances where a video or episode can be streamed in its entirety under the fair use doctrine. That determination has to be made on a case-by-case basis by the faculty member by weighing and balancing the four fair use factors.If you need assistance in this determination, please contact the Libraries.
"Guide to Using Films in Courses" by Georgetown University Library, used under CC BY-NC 4.0 / Library-specific information adapted for the University of Denver.
