Is my Movie Covered by the CVL?

The Church Video Licence™ (CVL) from CCLI covers many major movie studios and distributors including Universal Pictures, Dreamworks, Polygram Filmed Entertainment, Paramount, and 20th Century.

However, CCLI appreciates that determining whether a particular movie is covered isn’t always easy. This article will look at the best way to confirm that the movie you wish to show is covered by the CVL.

Although there are a number of websites containing movie information that you can reference, CCLI recommends that you look first on IMDb.com (The Internet Movie Database. Note: CCLI is in no way affiliated with IMDb and does not endorse or control the accuracy of the content contained therein).

• First, go to the film’s listing on the IMDb website. To do this, from the IMDb homepage, enter the film’s title in the search bar and press enter. Your search should return a list of titles.  The more exact you are, the more likely your film will be at or near the top of this list. When you spot the film you’re looking for in this list, click on it to open that film’s listing on IMDb. Check the film’s details to make sure this is the exact film you want.
• Next, click on All topics in the top right corner of the page to open the All topics menu:

The All topics option for a film listing on IMDb.

• Under the Details column in the menu, click Company credits:

The All topics menu showing the Company credits option.

• You should now be looking at the Company Credits page, and a long list of movie companies. Scan the list of Distributors to find the company which holds the ‘(Australia) (Theatrical)’ rights. (See below if the Australia Theatrical right isn’t listed here).

The company credits page for a film on IMDb.

• Having made a note of the distributor with the Australian Theatrical rights, now open the Australia CVL Producers List on the CVLI website. This list shows all the studios/producers covered by the CVL in Australia displayed in alphabetical order. If the distributor with the Australia Theatrical rights appears in this list, the movie is covered by the CVL for Australia. If the distributor isn’t listed here, the movie is not covered.

The Australia Theatrical right isn’t shown on IMDb. What do I do?

If the Australia Theatrical right isn’t listed on IMDb but a single company appears to hold the Theatrical rights to most territories, as a general rule you can assume that that company will also hold this right for Australia. If there is no general consensus in the list on IMDb, we recommend you contact us.

The movie isn’t covered by the CVL but we still want to show it. What should we do?

If the movie isn’t covered by the CVL, contact the movie’s producer directly to establish whether they can issue a licence or can point you to the licensing body which can.

Thanks for taking the time to make sure your movie is covered. Enjoy showing it in your church.