Legal Question in Business Law in California

Re: Private Movie Viewing

You would have to reach agreements with the copyright holders of the movies you want to show. The copyrights for most films released by major studios are owned by a handful of companies, so a small number of agreements could get you the rights to show a large number of films. Presumably these agreements would require you to pay a licensing fee for each showing. Depending upon how much you are willing to spend, you may be able to license quite a few films, though you should expect them to be older ones.

On the other hand, if you are hoping to just rent or buy a DVD at your local store and then play them for your patrons, you should expect to be sued very quickly. Such DVDs do not carry with them the right to show them commercially. Claiming that your patrons are there only for the food and not for the film is not going to fool anyone.