I'm an elementary teacher. It's the end of the year so we have a bunch of activities going on. One of them is a circus-themed fair with snacks, games etc.

I work in a poorish (kind of) school and many of the students have never been to a circus before. So I thought I could buy a Cirque de Solei video off iTunes and project it to the class so they can see what a circus is like.

HOWEVER, it turns out that apple has DRM on top of DRM that doesn't allow you to project videos when you attach the video out cable. Way to go Apple, you have helped keep me from exposing children to a little culture! Not to mention I am now out $10.

aren't there some full records of performances (older ones) on youtube?

My school district blocks youtube because it eats up bandwith. AAARRRGHHH!!!

then you can just steal the recording and bring it on a flash drive

*no, he didn't just say that!
*yes, he did!

or maybe buy a physical DVD?

It should work over AirPlay... do you have HDMI into the projector? Get ahold of an Apple TV and send it that way.

Amazon carries a large selection of their performance DVDs as does BestBuy (or they used to). I would also suggest your local library would have some performance DVDs as well.

Depending on the age of your class some performances may be unsuitable?? My favorite performance is Quidam which Amazon has used for $4.99 if all else fails . .=)

Except most music, DVD and heck even back in the VHS days specifically says in its copyright notice (often at the start) that its not allowed to be displayed to public groups, schools, oil rigs etc.....

Legally speaking the DRM has done what its supposed to do.

That said there must be setups where by schools can apply for licences or such to gain the ability to show these things and there might even be some degree of allowance that you can use to show some in a limited fashion or some such. It's something that you should be able to find more information out on at your end going through the school channels. It would be worth it as it could potentially see you able to open doors that you didn't know where there to be opened.

I know teacher's are technically not supposed to project movies, but come on, it for school children. We're not charging the children to see it, unless you count that they paid with the good behavior/grades. The problem is that corporations and copyright take precedence over using certain materials to educate (provide some culture) for our youth.

I'm sure there must be some releases or site license you can get to allow you to as well - if your school is one set in a more disadvantaged area you might even find some specialist groups that help provide support for this and other schemes.

Ok, they try this crap you should just go pirate the video in question. You paid for the thing already, so IMO you are well within your rights to get a 'back-up'. Just don't pass it out to anyone else.

Actually, do you have an overhead projector (most schools do, right)? If you plunk the iPad on that won't it work? Just make sure the lamp is off so you don't cook your ipad :)

Hard luck,:/ I think based on the Apple ads from the 80's you are now legally entitled to run down to your local Apple store and throw a hammer in through the window:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R706isyDrqI

An iPad is reasonably bright, but if you use it as the basis for a projection, that same light output is going to be distributed over a much larger area. That area won't have to get very big before the projection is too dim to see. Plus, the light leaving the iPad surface is not focused like the included lamp light. It's likely that the result would be a blur. Still, it would be easy enough to try!

For $10, you could have purchased Sanitarium from GOG and played through the circus level with the kids.

Joking apart, I share your frustration, eagarza12. Is it unreasonable to let groups of 6 students watch a few minutes on your iPad directly while you do something else with the rest of the class?


edit: Just in case it wasn't obviously a joke: Don't play Sanitarium with elementary school kids.

Uh, you do know that there are roughly 1.7 million ways of downloading youtube videos, right?