Not unless educational institutions want to willingly break the law.
It may well become as easy as pressing a button to download any movie ever
made ( per that old commercial with the motel) but certain rights holder
simply will not agree and there is no way that Congress is going to pass a
law saying that as long as you pay someone X fee you can download something
they own against their wishes. I understand it seems illogical and we all
know that you can find almost any film you want available in a bootleg DVD
But alas that does not mean that it is going to make certain rights holders
more amenable to licensing their films. I have film buff friends who believe
that any feature owned by the studios will be downloadable for a fee
in a few years but I am not holding my breath for Paramount to make Raymond
Griffith films available ( one the best and now forgotten silent film
comediennes) any more than I expect Fox to make all the Gaynor/ Farrell
films available. Of course most of these would mean little for educational
institutions but the studios are far more likely to license large parts of
their libraries than overseas owners. One the ironies I see is that I am
convinced there are FEWER titles available now for PUBLIC showings than when
16mm was its prime in say the mid 70s.( at least as a percentage of films
made to that point) Thousands of films that used to be available no longer
are even if they may be out on VHS or DVD so technology
Does not always equal access at least legally
Jessica
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