Streaming Video Service Policy

Streaming Video Service

We now offer instructors the option of delivering full-length videos in Canvas. Videos may be licensed or digitized by the Library, placed on our secure online server and linked to an instructor’s Canvas course. Streaming video can be accessed from any computer with Internet capabilities, thus providing authorized students with 24-hour access to reserve video materials.

Should digitization be approved, we will digitize both instructor and library owned materials. Authorized students can access these videos in the Studio tab of an instructor's Canvas course.

Please be advised that not all request can be fulfilled, due to reasons such as, but not limited to: the basis of fair use, not meeting accessibility requirements, or exclusive streaming rights. 

How to submit a request

Requests can be made by filling out a form entitled, Streaming Video Request Form.

You must put in a separate request for each video that you want to be streamed through Canvas, even if multiple videos will be used for the same course. You must put in a request each semester for each requested streaming video.

Request Guidelines

Each form must include the instructor's name, the course number, and the instructor's department. The instructor must also provide their e-mail address.

You must put in a request for each individual item. Please do not substitute a syllabus and/or reading list for a completed request form. This will not be considered a completed form. Instructors must fill out a separate request for each course. If the media request is needed for multiple sections of the same course please list all sections under “Course Section”

As we rely on Fair Use and the TEACH Act (more information below) to provide access to our students to films inside of UTA’s course management system, we require documentation, which ties the work to the specific teaching objective. A description on how this video relates to your course objectives must be included in order for the request to be processed.

Deadlines

Due to a high volume of requests, in order to have your streaming requests ready for use in your class, we must have ample time to prepare your video. As such, we ask for a minimum of four weeks. If your requests are in by July 15, your videos will be ready for the beginning of the fall semester. If your requests are in by December 15, your videos will be ready for the beginning of the spring semester. If your requests are in by April 15, your videos will be ready for the beginning of the first summer session. The videos will then be removed from Canvas at the end of the semester.

One reason that we require four weeks’ notice in order to prepare your video is because some videos have access controls which prevent the library from streaming the video. (These controls are often referred to as Digital Rights Management or DRM.) The library may be unable to process the request if the requested work has access controls.

Lists received after the deadline will be processed in the order in which they are received. As a result, material submitted after the deadline may not be available to students during the first week of the semester.

Instructor Owned Materials

On the basis of fair use and of meeting accessibility requirements, we will digitize and stream instructor owned DVDs through Canvas. The library will not be held financially liable for any damages or loss of personal materials submitted for streaming video. Direct communications will be made with the instructor for the lending of instructor owned materials. 

Fair Use

Fair Use is a Four Factor test which is a limitation on the exclusive rights of authors that educators have relied on in order to provide access to course materials to their students among other applications. Fair Use considers the following four factors:

  1. The purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of a commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes;
  2. The nature of the copyrighted work;
  3. The amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole; and
  4. The effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work.

The four factors are weighing together and then with the purpose of copyright. Fair Use is a fact specific inquiry and there are no hard and fast rules about Fair use. Learn more about Fair use at the American Library Association website.

TEACH Act

The "Technology, Education and Copyright Harmonization Act" (the TEACH Act) redefines the terms and conditions on which accredited, nonprofit educational institutions throughout the U.S. may use copyright protected materials in distance education - including on websites and by other digital means - without permission from the copyright owner and without payment of royalties. Any use of streaming must be analogous to in-class use. There is a limited period of time for storage and dissemination. Warning and notice of copyrighted materials must be posted. Works permitted will be limited displays of images and other works in amounts comparable to live classroom setting. In accordance with these codes, the following guidelines apply:

A given video may only be posted for a limited period of time. Only students enrolled in the class may have access to the video. A “limited and reasonable portion” of a video can be streamed. Failure to abide by these restrictions is a violation of copyright law, and may result in legal penalties as well as revocation of library privileges and other University imposed sanctions.

Learn more about the TEACH Act at the American Library Association website.

Contact Us

For more information, please contact erms@uta.edu.

Revised 8/14/2026