Many films on Kanopy come with public performance rights (PPR) at no additional cost, which means your library can screen them for groups. A film night, a documentary discussion series, or a family movie afternoon can all be built from titles already in your Kanopy collection.

PPR does come with a few conditions. Here’s what they are, how to promote a screening within them, and how to find eligible titles.

What PPR screenings requires

You can screen a film with PPR in group programming that meets all four of these conditions:

1. It’s planned and run by an employee of your library
2. It doesn’t charge admission
3. It’s attended only by your library’s cardholders and employees
4. It isn’t promoted to the general public

Promoting Your Screening

PPR covers the title’s name and any images from the Kanopy website you want to use to advertise the screening, as long as you credit Kanopy as the source.

Because the screening can’t be promoted to the general public, keep your promotion to channels that reach your cardholders, such as in-library signage, your library’s newsletter or emails to cardholders.

Virtual Screenings

For a virtual screening, each viewer needs to log in to Kanopy individually so their library membership can be verified. A simpler option is to have participants watch the film on their own, then meet for a virtual Q&A or discussion afterwards.

Finding Films with PPR

Films with PPR show a PPR icon next to the running time on their title details page. Films without the icon don’t have PPR and can’t be used for group programming.

To browse PPR titles from a personal Kanopy account:

1. Log in to the Kanopy website with your personal account.
2. Under Filters, toggle on Public Performance.

You can apply the filter before or after you search. If you search first and none of the results have PPR, the filter won’t appear.

To search from your library’s Kanopy admin account:

1. Log in to the Kanopy website with your library’s admin account.
2. Run a search.
3. In the Public Performance Rights drop-down on the left side of the results page, select PPR Available.

Programming Ideas

Many libraries are already building PPR screenings into regular programming. Boulder Public Library runs Kanopy Kids Cartoons and Cereal in a meeting room next to its children’s area. They screen PPR titles on no-school and late-start days and invite families to stay after story time for cereal. See how they built it. For ideas across every age group, such as a “Watch the Book” club for kids, a documentary and debate night for teens, and a classic Hollywood matinee for seniors, check out Using Kanopy for your libraries’ programming events.

Plan Your Next Screening

Start by filtering your collection for PPR titles, then build an event around a theme, a holiday, or a discussion your community would enjoy. Check out our training video here. If you’re unsure whether a title or event qualifies, contact Kanopy support before you schedule it.

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