In short the answer is probably, yes. Title 17, the U.S. Copyright Act, Section 110 lays out what is allowable for presentation in a classroom. There are requirements that need to be met.
They are:
1. It must be a lawfully obtained copy/video source,
2. it must be shown in a teaching space (classroom or similar place devoted to instruction),
3. it must be shown as part of teaching activity,
4. it must be "reasonable and limited portions... in an amount comparable to that which is typically displayed in the course of a live classroom session", and
5. it must be shown "at the direction of, or under the actual supervision of an instructor as an integral part of a class session".
In plain English:
1. Legal copy,
2. in a closed space so that only the students enrolled in the course can view it,
3. comments, before, during or after, are expected,
4. limit the viewing to one class session (depending on schedule that could be up to 3 hours), and
5. it has to be related to the content of the course and not just a "fun" video.
The TEACH Act was a change to the copyright law specifically for distance education. As such, the Act makes provisions for such things as showing videos to distance learners. Yes, movies can be shown, but there are certain stipulations.
Those stipulations are:
1 - the video must have been legally obtained,
2 - portion shown must be"comparable to that which is typically displayed in the course of a live classroom session",
3 - shown "at the direction of, or under the actual supervision of an instructor as an integral part of a class...",
4 - it is directly related to the content of the course,
5 - limited to those "enrolled" in the course,
6 - cannot be available "for a longer period than is reasonably necessary to facilitate the transmissions...",
7 - reasonable measures are taken to prevent copying the video, and
8 - must inform, describe, and promote copyright awareness to the students.
For more general information about the TEACH Act visit the Lib Answer: As a faculty member what copyright requirements do I need to be aware of as I teach remotely in distance education?
If you would like to post a video for your online students, please consult with the administrators of our Learning Management System (LMS). As of October 2017, we are still using Sakai. [Note: the LMS is now Canvas and these directions need to be updated, 10-30-2020]
The film will be "ripped" into an appropriate video file format. They will then place it in your course. That way it is behind a password protected wall. The two issues that will need to be dealt with: setting a time limit on how long it is "available to view" and #7 - measures taken to prevent copying the video.