By Eileen Korte
COMMUNITY ASSOCIATIONS AND COPYRIGHT COMPLIANCE:
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW W
ith all the daily business within your communi- ty, residents and manag- ers alike may not give a
second thought to something as simple as showing a movie in the community clubhouse. “It’s just for residents,” some might say.
“We’re not charging admis-
sion.” It seems simple enough, but may- be you remember the FBI warning at the beginning of the DVD? Te one we all too often fast forward through? Have you ever stopped to consider how copy- right law applies when movies are shown within your community? Probably not, but you should.
Surprisingly, some community man- agers, management companies, board members, and residents are unaware that all motion picture showings within common areas on the property require a public performance license in accor- dance with Title 17 of the U.S. Copy- right Act. As you may be aware, copy- righted movies and other audiovisual programs that are available for rental or purchase in any legal format, such as
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DVDs or other digital formats, whether streamed or downloaded, are intended for personal, private use only.
You may already hear residents asking, “What? We can’t watch a movie in our own house?” Rest assured that watch- ing movies in an individual home or condo with family and friends does not require a license. However, common areas within a residential community, such as a clubhouse, theater, lounge, outdoor space or gym are considered “public” and thusly, watching movies in such spaces requires a public perfor- mance license. Tis is the case even if only a few residents are present, the ex- hibition is not open to the general pub- lic, and no admission fee is charged.
While this may be new information for some, the Copyright Act as we know it today was first adopted in 1976. More importantly, ignorance is certainly not bliss, especially when it comes to copy- right infringement. While community boards may not want to hear that they need a license to view movies in com-
May / June 2017
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