When you buy a movie on DVD, you also buy the right to screen it at home — on your TV or in your home cinema, with as many friends around as you like, as often as you like.
Public Screenings Need Different Rights
To screen a movie in a public place — just about anywhere that isn’t your home — you need to buy the commercial, or “theatrical”, screening rights from the distributor who owns them. These entitle you to screen the film in a public venue and charge admission. Theatrical rights can cost hundreds of dollars for a single screening, and over a thousand for a major title — distributors guard them fiercely, and screening without permission can lead to expensive legal consequences.
Australian film societies can access special “non-theatrical” screening rights at lower than commercial rates — but first you need to satisfy distributors that you’re a genuine film society, not just trying to gain an unfair advantage over cinemas that pay full commercial rates for their venues, licences and overheads.
To Qualify, a Group Must:
- Be a not-for-profit organisation.
- Have a membership of at least five members who pay a subscription entitling them to participate in the society’s activities.
- Admit only members and their guests to screenings.
- Not charge for admission to screenings.
AFSF membership means you’ve already demonstrated this to us once — after that, distributors accept our accreditation as their guarantee, so you don’t need to re-prove it every time you contact a new one.
DVD & Blu-ray Copyright, in Detail
Can I screen a DVD or Blu-ray in public?
Not without permission from the copyright holder. Under Australian copyright law, a “public place” includes anywhere the public can meet — church halls, meeting rooms, and so on. It doesn’t include a private home screened to a few friends with no money involved, but advertising a home screening turns it into a public event.
How do I get permission?
Contact the Australian distributor who manages the copyright for the film and ask for “screening rights”. If you can’t locate the rights holder, you can’t screen the film — see our Where to Get Films page for distributor contacts. All film societies are eligible for a discount as long as they can establish they’re not-for-profit and run non-theatrical screenings (no door charge, members only) — being a registered AFSF member is the easiest way to assure a distributor of that.
Can I use a DVD hired from a video store?
No — screening a hired disc is illegal and carries significant penalties. You can screen any disc you’ve purchased legally (it doesn’t need to be owned by the society, though it can become part of your library if you do), and distributors such as Amalgamated and Roadshow can also supply discs to rent if you don’t already own a copy. Always get permission to screen before you buy.
What happens once I have permission?
Once you’ve found the distributor, made contact and completed their formalities, they’ll send you an approval to screen the film — at that point you can start publicising it.
Where to Get Films
Our real, current list of Australian distributors, plus the NFSA Lending Collection and notes on streaming.
Join for Member Discounts
Registered AFSF member societies are eligible for discounted screening rights through our affiliated distributors.