Copyright

• Showing Multimedia in an Online Class
• DVD to Streaming Service (Distance Courses)
• Live Streaming from Library Video Collections

Faculty who want to share a video with their students in an online course have several options, both asynchronous and synchronous.

Library streaming platforms

The Library subscribes to several video streaming platforms that students can access off-campus for asynchronous viewing. View a list of available streaming platforms.

For faculty that want to live-stream a video from one of the library platforms during a synchronous class, visit the Media in the Classroom Library webpage for best practices and technical information. 

Showing a DVD

For DVDs that are required viewing in a course, the Library may be able to create a temporary streaming file. View more information on the Library's DVD to streaming service below. Please note that the library's DVD to streaming service follows Canadian copyright requirements. Simply 'ripping' or screen recording a DVD to convert it to a digital file may have legal ramifications.

The Library does not recommend streaming a DVD over any of our remote-teaching platforms (Zoom, Teams, Webex). Many DVDs and conferencing platforms are set up to prohibit this activity. When it can be done, the quality is poor. 

Commercial Streaming Options

Services like Netflix, Crave, Disney Plus or Spotify and Apple Music generally require each viewer to have their own account, in which case you cannot live-stream from the platforms. Please remember that not all students will have a subscription to these services and it may be an additional financial burden to ask them to subscribe. 

Netflix releases a select number of documentaries that can be shown in class for educational purposes, and can be live-streamed in a distance course. To see if a title is permitted, go to the Netflix Media Center and search for a title. Titles labelled with "Grant of Permission for Educational Screenings" are eligible to show in class. 

The Library may convert a DVD to a streaming file for courses, as long as the conditions below are met.

• The film must not be available in a viable commercial alternative.
• The DVD must be a required resource for the course.
• The CapU Library will make the streaming file available to faculty through a link in their eLearn course to ensure the video is only available to students taking the course.
• The Library or the instructor must own a copy of the DVD. 
• The Library will delete the streaming file within 30 days of final grades.

The DVD to streaming program is copyright compliant under Section 30.01 of the Copyright Act, which allows copyrighted works to be used in the same way whether the course is in-person or online.

It also follows Section 41.1, Technological Protection Measures, and does not break digital locks in the conversion process. Simply 'ripping' or screen recording a DVD to convert it to a digital file is not the same thing and violates copyright.

Once your request is approved, the CapU Library will:

• digitize the requested DVD
• upload the file to the Library’s streaming video service provider (McIntyre)
• send the instructor a proxied link to the file which contains a required copyright statement.

The link is placed in eLearn by the instructor thus allowing their students, and only their students, to access the streaming video. 

The library subscribes to a number of streaming platforms that allow live-streaming for distance learning. If you are live-streaming a video for your students, please ensure that: 

• The audience consists of only students registered for the class.
• Any copies made of the lecture are destroyed within 30 days of the course ending.
• The title of the video is listed and, if available, the date and any additional source information.

For best practices, available streaming platforms, and technical information about live streaming from the Library collection, visit the Media in the Classroom page on the Library website.