Film purchased or rented on Blu-Ray and DVD, as well as content streamed via digital delivery, or via Pay or Free Tv, are available to you for 'home use only'. In Australian and New Zealand copyright law, screening film and television content in a non-domestic setting requires permission from the copyright owner.

A general rule of thumb is if the screening is outside your home or private room, it's considered a public screening and will require the appropriate license. This includes all common areas in Aged Care residential communities. 

The Big Studio Movie Licence provides you with the legal coverage to screen movies at your facility address.

‍Find out more about your responsibilities under copyright law:
‍From the Australian Copyright Council on Film and Copyright, Films, DVDs, TV & Streaming Services: Screening in Public:

This fact sheet gives a brief overview of copyright law as it relates to the public screening of films.

This fact sheet explores the rights granted to filmmakers, issues of ownership and infringement of copyright for films.‍

For more information on Copyright and Content Protection in Australia and New Zealand https://anzsa.fil

Select your industry from the list in the menu items and you’ll find detailed information about the cost of a licence to provide 12 months of blanket coverage from all of the Studios we represent.

Under copyright law, appropriate approval is required regardless of what type of organisation you are. There are no exemptions in place with regards to the type of organisation you are.

Yes. Approval is required for any areas where people gather in common spaces at your facility and view content, regardless if there are others from the public in attendance or not.

If movie content is on screens in common areas, regardless if this is an organised movie event or incidental viewing in the background, you will require the licence.

Good question! It has long been a requirement from film studios that a modest fee be paid for public performances of content they own. In the US, public performance licensing in multiple industry sectors, including Senior Living Communities, have been a compliance requirement for many years. It is a more recent development that multiple industry sectors in Australia and New Zealand have been asked to become compliant in this area.

For many years organisations have been aware and participating in site music licensing. Similarly, the film industry is now requesting that facilities in these industry sectors become compliant when it comes to the consumption of the content they create and own.

The easiest way for your organisation to get licensed to show movies is through The Big Studio Movie Licence. We’ve provided over 10,000 blanket movie  licences for various organisations over the past 13 years. We’re here to assist your organisation with legal access to movies from the Hollywood studios.

No. The Big Studio Movie Licence is a site license and as such only provides legal coverage for the nominated address entered at the time of purchase. A licence will need to be purchased for each facility.

Purchasing for multiple facilities? Contact us for discounted pricing.

Yes. The location requires a licence regardless of who owns the movie, or how the content is delivered to the site. While you may own the actual movie, you are only granted the right to view it in your home, not to view it in common areas at your facility.

Sorry, but you can’t charge people entry for the films we are covering in our licence.

Visit the Creative Content Australia website and Australia New Zealand Screen Association. Also Copyright Act 1968 and Public use of copyright works | Intellectual Property Office of New Zealand.

Yes. Film content can now be accessed at the touch of a button, and in a variety of ways. All content intended for personal, private use requires a license when shown in public, regardless of how that content is sourced. This goes for content sourced via DVD, Blu-Ray, streaming platforms such as Netflix, Binge, Stan etc. and downloaded content. 

Regardless of the mode of delivery for content, the terms and conditions of delivery only grant you the right to view in your home, not in public, and a public performance licence is required for screening in non-private common areas. 

In Australia, broadcast organisations like Foxtel, and free to air networks, don’t carry the appropriate licence required for viewing in common areas of the content owned by the Studios we represent. The Big Studio Movie Licence provides you with the appropriate compliance and copyright approval required. 

Where there has been unauthorised viewing of a film, the following people can be liable: person/s who screen the film, person/s who authorise the viewing but do not have the right to do so, person/s who provide premises for an unauthorised screening, and person/s who provide equipment for the performance.

In the event that content from the studios we represent is screened at your facility in common areas, and without approval from the Studio in question, you are risking a potential breach of the Copyright Act. 

We encourage you to find out more by reading THIS Australian Copyright Council factsheet titled: Infringement: Actions, Remedies, Offences & Penalties.