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Copyright Guide

This guide is intended to give best practices for the acceptable use of copyright protected materials. It does not provide legal advice.

Campus Events & Promotional Materials

Showing Films on Campus

SMU student associations often ask about what movies they can show at campus events. If you wish to host an event with a film from one of our streaming services, this may be possible, depending on a number of factors, and it could involve paying for additional licensing fees.

Here are the general rules for showing films on campus:

  • Movies can only be shown on campus for educational purposes.
  • Only SMU Students, Faculty and Staff are allowed to attend. 
  • The event must be free of charge.
  • Audio Cine Films cannot be shown outside without the Society or Campus group paying an additional licensing fee to ACF.
  • Criterion on Demand films will require the Society or Campus group to pay an additional licensing fee to Criterion. 

Please contact the Copyright Office at copyright@smu.ca for further assistance. In your email please indicate what film you would like to display, and for what purposes.

Images for Promotional Materials

If you are creating a flyer to post on campus, or creating a social media post, you need to be aware of copyright for the images you are using. Images are protected by copyright. Many websites and organizations license the images they use, and do not own the copyright themselves. 

Best practices for using this kind of content includes:

  • Choose images that are in the public domain or licensed for re-use (such as Creative Commons images).
  • Take your own pictures 
  • Do not use content that you believe is infringing or has been posted without the knowledge of the copyright owner.
  • Always provide citations giving title, creator, and source. 

Please contact Copyright@smu.ca if you have any questions or would like more guidance on working with these materials.

Resources for finding images: