Introduction



Introduction to Copyright and the T.E.A.C.H. Act

Those involved in education may have more leniency regarding the use of copyrighted materials through the Technology, Education, and Copyright Harmonization (T.E.A.C.H.) Act of 2002, however, they are not exempt from following copyright laws. The T.E.A.C.H. Act amends Section 110 of the Copyright Act to provide guidance to educators, especially in the fields of technology and e-learning, along with exemptions to the use of digital media over the Internet as part of an instructional course offered by a nonprofit educational organization (Dabbagh & Bannan-Ritland, 2005). Requirements of the T.E.A.C.H. Act include the following from the Copyright Clearance Center (2005):
  • Media is displayed as part of a live or asynchronous class session
  • Media is displayed within the scope of regular classroom / instructional activities
  • Materials are available only to students enrolled in the course
  • Materials are available for a limited time
  • Only limited or reasonable portions of the material can be performed or displayed
  • The institution must have a set of publicized copyright policies, specifically informing students that course content may be covered by copyright
  • The institution must include a notice of copyright on all online materials
  • Institutions must implement measures to ensure compliance with all copyright policies, beyond use of login and passwords, including the use if Internet Protocol (IP) Addresses, content timeouts and cut and paste disabling
  • Reasonable precautions are taken to prevent students from downloading and saving copyrighted materials
  • Media that has embedded copyright protection can not have the copyright removed or circumvented
  • Transmission of textbooks and materials must not include items usually purchased or acquired by students