Yes, a pub can show a film, but it needs two separate permissions. Your premises licence has to allow the exhibition of films, because a film is regulated entertainment. And you need the copyright owner's permission, which in practice means a screening licence: Filmbankmedia charges from £89 + VAT for one non-ticketed screening in a room of up to 50, or £141.67 + VAT a year for unadvertised, free background showings. A Netflix or Disney+ login doesn't cover it, their terms say personal use only. And children's admission has to follow the film's age rating.
It's worth sorting now because the obvious idea lands every December: stick a Christmas film on for the families on a Sunday afternoon. It's a good idea. It just isn't as simple as pressing play.
Permission one: your premises licence
Under the Licensing Act 2003, the exhibition of a film means any exhibition of moving pictures, and showing one to the public is regulated entertainment. So your premises licence needs films listed as a licensable activity, with the hours you'll show them. Dig out the licence and look at the regulated entertainment section. Some pubs have films on there from years back, some don't, and it takes two minutes to check.
The exemptions that matter:
- Live TV is exempt. Showing a programme at the same time as it's broadcast isn't regulated entertainment, which is why the football and the Christmas Day film on the telly don't need films on your licence.
- Adverts and information are exempt. A film whose main purpose is to advertise goods or services, or give information, isn't regulated entertainment. Your own offers on the TVs are fine.
- The community-premises exemption isn't for pubs. Free film shows to 500 or fewer between 8am and 11pm are exempt in church halls, village halls and similar buildings. A pub isn't one.
If films aren't on your licence, a Temporary Event Notice covers a one-off, and the deadlines and costs are in my TEN guide. For regular film afternoons, ask your licensing team about a variation. Running licensable activity your licence doesn't authorise is an offence under section 136, so don't guess.
The age rating is a licence condition
Every premises licence that allows films carries a mandatory condition: children's admission to any film has to be restricted in line with the BBFC rating, or the council's own recommendation where it has made one. For this rule children means anyone under 18. So a 15-rated film on the big screen in the afternoon with families in the room is a breach, even if nobody's watching it. Pick U and PG for the daytime, check your licence for any conditions on children's hours, and leave the 15s for later.
Permission two: the film's owner
This is the bit almost nobody knows. Buying a DVD, renting a film online or paying for a streaming account gets you a copy for home viewing. Showing it in public needs a public performance licence on top. Netflix's terms are blunt: the service and its content are for personal, non-commercial use only, and you agree not to use it for commercial purposes or public performances. The same goes for the other streaming apps. Logging in on the pub TV isn't an option.
Even a film on live TV isn't as clear-cut as it looks. Copyright law used to let you show a broadcast free in public without infringing the copyright in the films in it. Since June 2016 that exception has covered the broadcast itself but no longer the films included in it. That's why Filmbank's annual licence specifically covers films shown as broadcast on terrestrial channels. How hard that gets enforced I can't tell you. What I can tell you is what the law says and what it costs to be covered.
What it costs
| Licence | Price | What it allows |
|---|---|---|
| Single title, indoor, non-ticketed, up to 50 capacity | £89 | One planned screening of one film. Add £50 if you advertise it outside the venue |
| Single title, indoor, non-ticketed, 51 to 100 | £93 | As above |
| Single title, indoor, non-ticketed, 101 to 200 | £97 | As above |
| Single title, indoor, ticketed | The same fee or 35% of the box office, whichever is greater | Charging admission |
| Single title, outdoor, up to 200 | £157, or 40% of the box office if ticketed | A beer garden screening |
| Annual PVSL, under 250 people a week | £141.67 a year | Unplanned or background showings, no charge to the audience, no advertising |
| Annual PVSL, 250 to 749 a week | £242.50 a year | As above |
| Annual PVSL, 750 to 1,249 a week | £339.17 a year | As above |
The annual licence has a catch that matters for a pub. You can't charge for the screening, directly or indirectly, and you can't advertise or promote the film, except on the premises when no commercial activity is going on, which for a pub with the bar open means never. No Facebook post, no chalkboard. It also only covers films from participating distributors, from a retail DVD or Blu-ray, or as broadcast on terrestrial TV. So the annual licence is for a film on in the background or put on unplanned. A planned, promoted family film afternoon is a single-title job. The Motion Picture Licensing Company sells umbrella licences too, but doesn't publish pub prices, so ask them for a quote if you want to compare.
Neither Filmbank licence covers the music in the soundtrack. That falls under your music licence, which is in what the music licence costs a pub.
Does a film afternoon pay?
I use about £2.23 of gross profit on a £4.89 standard lager at 55% GP, from my quiet nights guide. A VAT-registered pub gets the VAT back on the licence, so the ex-VAT price is the cost.
| Option | Cost ex VAT | Extra pints to cover it |
|---|---|---|
| One film, up to 50, promoted only inside the pub | £89 | about 40 |
| One film, up to 50, advertised on Facebook too | £139 | about 63 |
| Annual background licence, under 250 a week | £141.67 a year | about 64 a year |
Forty pints in a Sunday afternoon slot that's normally dead is a reachable number, especially when the families are buying soft drinks, crisps and a roast rather than pints. And here's the idea I'd try. Look at the price table again: the extra £50 is for advertising outside the venue. Promote the film only inside the pub, on your own TVs and the chalkboard, for the two weeks before, and you save the £50 and test whether the people already coming in will come back for it. What it costs to run offers on the screens is in putting your offers on the pub TVs.
Then count it properly. Take the takings for that Sunday slot against the average of the previous four Sundays, the same way I'd judge a quiz night by the keg rather than the headcount in does a pub quiz make money. If it beat the licence cost, book the next one. If it didn't, you've lost £89 and learnt something, which is cheaper than most ideas.
Before the first film
- Check the premises licence lists films, for the hours you want. If not, a TEN or a variation.
- Pick a U or PG for daytime and check any conditions on children.
- Book the single-title licence for planned, promoted screenings. The annual licence only covers unplanned or background showings.
- Use a bought DVD or Blu-ray, or whatever playback route the licence specifies, never a streaming account.
- Make sure the music licence covers recorded music in the room.
- Sound down near the bar. People still want to order.
Common questions
Can a pub legally show a film?
Yes, with two permissions. The premises licence must allow the exhibition of films, because showing a film to the public is regulated entertainment, and you need a public screening licence from the copyright owner, for example Filmbankmedia's single title licence from £89 plus VAT or its annual PVSL from £141.67 plus VAT.
Can I show Netflix in my pub?
No. Netflix's terms say the service and its content are for personal, non-commercial use only and must not be used for commercial purposes or public performances. Other streaming services have similar terms.
How much is a film licence for a pub?
Filmbankmedia's published prices are £89 plus VAT for one non-ticketed indoor screening up to 50 capacity, £93 for 51 to 100 and £97 for 101 to 200, plus £50 if you advertise outside the venue. Its annual PVSL starts at £141.67 plus VAT but doesn't allow advertising or charging.
Do I need a licence to show a film that's on live TV?
The premises licence doesn't need films for live TV, because live broadcasts are exempt. Copyright is different: since 2016 the free public showing exception no longer covers films included in a broadcast, which is why Filmbank's annual licence covers films shown as broadcast on terrestrial TV.
Can children watch a film in a pub?
Only in line with the film's age rating. Every premises licence that allows films has a mandatory condition restricting children's admission according to the BBFC rating or the council's recommendation, and children means under 18 for this rule. Check your licence for any conditions on children's hours too.
Sources
- Exhibition of a film is any exhibition of moving pictures: Licensing Act 2003 Sch 1 para 15. When entertainment is regulated: Sch 1 para 1. Advertising and information exemption: para 5. Live TV exemption: para 8. Community premises exemption, 500, 8am to 11pm: para 6A, and the definition of community premises in section 193.
- Mandatory age-rating condition, children means under 18: Licensing Act 2003 section 20. Unauthorised licensable activity offence: section 136.
- Free public showing of a broadcast, films removed from the exception from 15 June 2016 by SI 2016/565: Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 section 72.
- Single title prices £89, £93, £97, £150, +£50 external advertising, 35% or 40% of box office, outdoor £157 and £224: Filmbankmedia film screening licence prices, checked 24 October 2026.
- PVSL £141.67, £242.50, £339.17, £579.17 by average weekly footfall: Filmbankmedia PVSL tariffs. No charge, no advertising except on premises with no commercial activity, DVD, Blu-ray or terrestrial broadcast only, soundtrack music not included: PVSL terms and conditions, clauses 2.1 to 2.6.
- Personal, non-commercial use only, no public performances: Netflix Terms of Use, clauses 1.4 and 1.8.
- £4.89 lager at 55% GP, about £2.23 gross profit: my quiet nights guide, which carries its own sources. The break-even table, the in-pub-only promotion idea and the checklist are my own arithmetic and opinion.