Copyright for Faculty

What is the TEACH Act?

The guidelines below define the standards for educational fair use when using copyrighted materials in the online classroom. The law that governs the use of copyrighted materials in the online classroom is called the Technology, Education, and Copyright Harmonization Act, or TEACH Act. Signed into law in 2002, the TEACH Act was created in response to the rise in online instruction at institutions of higher education. While the law is intended to allow an online instructor to use material in the same ways it can be used in the face-to-face classroom, there is specific language that applies to the online environment.

Key Points

Below is a summary of the key points of the TEACH Act that apply to classroom instruction. If you need a more detailed discussion of this legislation, see the links at the bottom of the page.

• The materials displayed are intended for the use of the students in that particular class as part of a mediated instructional activity; only students enrolled in the class may have access to the material.
• Materials may not be accessible to students beyond the end of the class term.
• Technology must be used that reasonably limits the students’ ability to further distribute the materials or retain them beyond the end of the semester.
• A faculty member may retain a copy of an item if it will be used in subsequent semesters, but that copy must be stored on a secure server and made available only in consideration of the other requirements of the Act.
• No copies may be made by an instructor beyond the copy used to make the content available to the students.
• The TEACH Act allows the display of:
  • Non-dramatic literary and musical works in their entirety
  • Reasonable and limited portions of dramatic literary, musical, or audiovisual works
  • Displays of other works, such as images, in amounts typically used in the face-to-face classroom
• The TEACH Act does not allow the display of:
  • Materials specifically marketed for classroom use for digital distance education
  • Illegally made or obtained copies of material
  • Textbooks, coursepacks, electronic reserves, or other materials typically used in the face-to-face classroom
• The TEACH Act allows for the digitization and streaming of "reasonable and limited" portions of VHS and DVD audio-visual works in the online classroom. Be aware, however, that any license agreement that Walsh has with a title's vendor takes precedence over the TEACH Act, and that some of our licenses do permit the display of an entire work within the online class.
• Analog (i.e. non-digital) material may be digitized a) only in an amount permitted under fair use limitations and b) only if there is no digital copy of the work available. NOTE: This language applies to audiovisual works, such as VHS tapes and DVDs.
• If you wish to digitize an entire DVD and make it available to your class, you must first obtain permission to do so from the copyright holder.
• The materials transmitted in the online classroom may not replace a textbook, coursepack, or electronic reserves.

Be aware that, in some instances, the doctrine of fair use may allow you to use material beyond the limitations set by the TEACH Act.                   

This link will take you to a helpful explanation of the benefits and hassles of The TEACH Act.  

Copyright Crash Course by Georgia Harper.

CONFU guidelines clarify the application of fair use of copyrighted works in the digital educational environment. CONFU guidelines are particularly useful for educators and students who are working on educationally-related projects like video podcasting, multimedia projects utilizing sound and videos, etc.

Based on CONFU guidelines, educators and students needn't get copyright permissions if they make a good faith effort to adhere to these suggested limits:

• Motion Media: Up to 10% or 3 minutes, whichever is less, in the aggregate of a copyrighted motion media work may be reproduced or otherwise incorporated as part of a multimedia project created under Section 2 of these guidelines.
   
• Text Material: Up to 10% or 1000 words, whichever is less, in the aggregate of a copyrighted work consisting of text material may be reproduced or otherwise incorporated as part of a multimedia project created under Section 2 of these guidelines. An entire poem of less than 250 words may be used, but no more than three poems by one poet, or five poems by different poets from any anthology may be used. For poems of greater length, 250 words may be used but no more than three excerpts by a poet, or five excerpts by different poets from a single anthology may be used.
   
• Music, Lyrics, and Music Video: Up to 10%, but in no event more than 30 seconds, of the music and lyrics from an individual musical work (or in the aggregate of extracts from an individual work), whether the musical work is embodied in copies, or audio or audiovisual works, may be reproduced or otherwise incorporated as a part of a multimedia project created under Section 2. Any alterations to a musical work shall not change the basic melody or the fundamental character of the work.

Note: Multimedia projects that are educationally-related are only valid for a duration of two years from the date of creation. After the two year period has expired the content can no longer be displayed.Also, courts are not bound by these guidelines and the Copyright Act contains no such standards. Opinions will vary.

TEACH Act Checklist

The requirements for applying the TEACH Act are fairly extensive. See the TEACH Basic Checklist, below, from North Carolina State University:

• Accredited nonprofit educational institution
• Institutional copyright use policy
• Educational materials on copyright available
• Work is not a digital educational work (this means the material cannot be used that was created by a for-profit copyright holder specifically for the online world)
• Work is lawfully made and acquired
• Work is integral to class session
• Work is part of systematic mediated instructional activities
• Work is directly related/material assistance to teaching
• Work is:
  • Nondramatic literary work (may use all)
  • Nondramatic musical work (may use all)
  • Reasonable and limited portion of any other work (FOR A PERFORMANCE )

• You can perform or display “reasonable and limited portions of any other work” with the amount being what would be “typically displayed in the course of a live classroom session.” Another way to think of this is you can show a slide of a building or a painting as long as it is the kind of thing you would normally show in class. You can even display a short poem if it is something you would display in class. But displaying large portions of the textbook online is not what was intended since you would not normally do that in class.
• Reception limited to students enrolled in course
• No retention of work longer than class term
• No dissemination beyond recipient
• For conversions of analog to digital:
  • No digital version available to institution or
  • Digital version available is technologically protected
• Warning notice to students present on work