There ’s no shortage of options for running out on the cable guy . And that ’s not even weigh those whoillegally access contentthrough the net . But one cyclosis service is trying to beat those monthly Netflix , Hulu and HBO Now fees by makingstreaming moviesavailable for free — all you involve is a library card .
Can I See Your Card?
Kanopyis a digital streaming service that partners with public libraries and universities to give movie buff the chance to view a wide collecting of indie , foreign , documentary and other celluloid . It ’s been yell " Netflix for the pedagogy sphere , " but Kanopy principal executive director Olivia Humphrey says she just wants to turn phratry on to cinema that might be a short under the radio detection and ranging .
" We wish to guess we are playing an important role of flesh out the reach for film lovers who might be in a bit of an echo bedchamber , " says Humphrey . " It ’s really become a home for film you ca n’t find elsewhere . "
The company is already sharing its catalog of some 30,000 films — include classic and contemporary movies and one C of honored Criterion Collection titles — with about 3,000 colleges and universities , among them Harvard , Stanford , McGill and the University of Sydney . It ’s also team up up with another 1,000 public program library organization around the globe .
" By all cadence , Kanopy has carry out the need to provide ready approach for our users to both material being employed in pedantic pursual , as well as for general enjoyment by item-by-item patrons , " says Travis Willmann , a spokesman for University of Texas Libraries . " We do still see important action within the physical media in our collection , but hold a streaming armed service does supply a facet to our resource that holds grandness for a subset of our substance abuser . "
Revolution Untelevised
Humphrey set forth the company in her Perth , Australia , home in 2008 . She figure opportunity in the licensing space for library after a career in medium that included roles at the Disney Channel and the BBC . In its early day , Kanopy sell DVDs to libraries in Western Australia , before shifting to digital cyclosis serving and relocating its home base to San Francisco .
" Our pitching to libraries is you have all of these wonderful DVDs on your shelf , but most of your user base is migrate to digital , " Humphrey aver .
Pricing models vary for college and subroutine library streaming service , but Humphrey says it ’s largely a " pay per dramatic play " setup , by which the instauration are charge a flat pace each meter a film is streamed . Libraries and universities cap the act of current each drug user can access per month . Public depository library in New York and Los Angeles , for example , allow members to teem up to 10 movies per calendar month . Library cardholder cancheck on the Kanopy websiteto see if their branch offers the overhaul .
User data from University of Texas Libraries offers some perceptivity into how streamers are using the divine service in the Lone Star State . UT users streamed most 26,000 videos last twelvemonth , 90 pct of which they watch out on a computer . And almost four times as many flow came via smartphones or tablets ( 7.5 percent ) than on televisions ( 2 percent ) .
The trio of top - check titles at UT bridge well-nigh seven decennium and various genre . " Bad Hair " ( 2013 ) is an indie dramatic event about a Venezuelan son whose unending quest to straighten out his ' do provides an interesting glimpse into refinement norms and homophobia . " Bicycle Thieves " ( 1948 ) is a black-market - and - white classic about a Father of the Church , a Word , a bike and poorness in Italy after World War II . " Triangle Fire " ( 2011 ) is a PBS documentary about a tragical blaze at a New York City factory that changed the labor movement .
The Digital Library
Kanopy ’s rise come as libraries are looking tobolstertheir digital substance , makingelectronic versions of booksavailable to check out . Hoopla Digital , an audio , telecasting and ebook service , recently made some15,000 HarperCollins booksavailable at partner libraries around the creation . HarperCollins is the first of the big five publication house to quarrel restrictive " one - transcript , one user " licensing arrangements that make sharing digital mental object through library insufferable .
Humphrey say Kanopy is looking to take advantage of the digital shift by moving into area of Europe where English is n’t the official language . But that does n’t intend she await to seek to put back some of the full-grown streaming services already well know in many households .
" Most of our films are not on Netflix , " she aver . " We like to conceive our interview come to Kanopy for a thoughtful experience . "
