Los Angeles, CA – The Motion Picture Licensing Corporation (MPLC), an independent copyright licensing agency, is introducing its Umbrella License for Public Libraries to supplement any existing license to show movies. Nevada State Library and the Suffolk Cooperative Library System in New York are among the charter clients for this License, which allows libraries to show movies and other programs in a copyright compliant manner.

The License gives libraries the performance rights to show movies, popular children’s programs, educational documentaries, and other audiovisual content for entertainment and educational purposes. Studios and producers covered by the License are 20th Century Fox, as well as 390 children’s, specialty and documentary producers including Scholastic Entertainment, Hit Entertainment, Discovery Channel, A&E, The History Channel, Sony Pictures Classics, and other producers that are not represented by any other licensing company. Once licensed, movies can be obtained from any legitimate source. For example, movies can be rented, streamed or downloaded and shown without any further reporting.

MPLC’s License is facility-based, providing libraries with copyright coverage whether a librarian, library patrons or guests are showing or watching videos. A library is covered whether a local independent film club watches a movie during their monthly meeting, or if a patron borrows a DVD and watches it on one of the on-site computers at the library.

Under Federal Copyright Law, a public performance license is required to show copyrighted material for any and all exhibitions of motion pictures and other programs outside of the home. Regardless of whether or not an admission fee is charged, this legal requirement applies equally to for-profit and non-profit facilities, including public libraries.

“During difficult economic times, many turn to the library as a source of entertainment and education. Libraries often use motion pictures such as the Diary of a Wimpy Kid movies to attract patrons by complementing book clubs and enhancing children’s programs. In order to show many of these types of videos, a license is required for 20th Century Fox, which is a top producer of children’s book adaptations, as well as other producers that create children’s and educational programming,” said PJ Kuyper, President of the MPLC. “We developed this License to allow libraries to complement any existing license, and to insure comprehensive copyright compliance.”

About the Motion Picture Licensing Corporation

The Motion Picture Licensing Corporation was established more than 25 years ago by motion picture executives to provide public access to the work of the creative community without copyright infringement. The MPLC is the world leader in motion picture copyright compliance, supporting legal access across five continents and more than twenty countries. The MPLC provides licenses to more than 250,000 facilities in the United States and over 450,000 worldwide. More information can be found at www.mplc.org