This originally turned up on CINEMA-L (in response to a question of mine).
 
----------------------------Original message----------------------------
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has quite a nice
collection of films on video in its library.  The great majority of thes
e don't circulate, and can only be watched in the library; but there is
a core collection of a couple hundred classic films that do circulate.
Faculty, staff, students, and local residents who apply for a UNC-CH
library card can all use the collection.
 
I don't know the legal ramifications of circulating copyrighted films
(I'm not a librarian), but I'd imagine that educational institutions are
granted a certain leeway, especially since they're not making a profit
on this.
 
(Peter, any comments on the film collection here?)
 
--Penny