Copyright and Fair Use: The Teach Act

The TEACH Act Exception

The “Technology, Education, and Copyright Harmonization Act” (Teach Act) was enacted in 2002.  The law was passed as an amendment to section 110 (2) of the Copyright Act in an effort to address copyright protections in a distance learning environment.  The revisions made by the TEACH Act allow for the digital transmission of materials for use in an online course provided they meet certain requirements.  While certain institutional requirements need to be met to fall under the TEACH Act requirements, it is the responsibility of the instructor to ensure criteria are met.

The Lindenwood University policy relative to the TEACH ACT requires all materials used in online courses be embedded in a course shell, thus limiting access to the materials to just those students enrolled in the class.  The limited access is controlled via passwords.  Course work cannot be placed on McGraw Hill’s Connect function, on any other publisher’s platform, or on an individual web page.

If an instructor wishes to present works through digital transmission for instructional purposes, he or she must adhere to the following requirements pursuant to the TEACH Act:

1. Avoid use of commercial works that are sold or licensed for purposes of digital distance education.
2. Avoid use of pirated works, or works where you otherwise have reason to know the copy was not lawfully made.
3. Generally limit use of works to an amount and duration comparable to what would be displayed or performed in a live physical classroom setting. The TEACH Act does not authorize the digital transmission of textbooks or course packs to students.
4. Supervise the digital performance or display, make it an integral part of a class session, and make it part of a systematic mediated instructional activity. In other words, the faculty should interactively use the copyrighted work as part of a class assignment in the distance education course. It should not be an entertainment add-on or passive background or optional reading.
5. Use software tools and ensure password protection to limit access to the works to students enrolled in the course, to prevent downstream copying by those students, and to prevent the students from retaining the works for longer than a "class session."
6. Notify the students that the works may be subject to copyright protection and that they may not violate the legal rights of the copyright holder.

Any time limitations imposed by the TEACH Act are imposed upon student retention.  Lindenwood University is allowed to make archive copies to be stored on its own servers.

TEACH Act Determination

Since the TEACH Act has its basis in distance education programs, e.g. online learning, the instructor preparing the material for use in the course must adhere to the following guidelines:

1. The performance or display must be under the supervision of the instructor
2. The materials in the course are transmitted as part of a mediated instructional activity
3. The copyrighted materials are directly related to the content of the course being taught.