Important: The TEACH Act applies to synchronous instruction, NOT asynchronous. Please refer to Fair Use when using copyrighted materials for asynchronous instruction.
The TEACH Act (Technology, Education, and Copyright Harmonization Act, 2002) (Section 110(2)) allows educators to perform or display copyrighted works in distance education environments. If you would like to show a video or display an image during your online class, you may want to consider whether that use is allowable under the TEACH Act.
Implementing TEACH can be difficult because of its complexity and the many detailed requirements for instructors, technologists, and institutions.
Benefits of the TEACH Act
Requirements of the TEACH Act
In order to take advantage of these benefits, instructors and institutions must meet certain policy requirements specified by the TEACH Act. Reasonable measures to assure that only enrolled students will have access to materials during the course of instruction must be in place before TEACH exemptions can be made. Below is a list of requirements:
The requirements for complying with the TEACH Act are numerous and onerous. As opportunities for applying the TEACH Act are limited in scope, keep in mind that you may also consider to fair use when using copyrighted works online and in distance education settings.
Ready to use the TEACH Act? Use this handy checklist to see
__ My institution is a nonprofit accredited educational institution or a government agency
__ It has a policy on the use of copyrighted materials
__ It provides accurate information to faculty, students and staff about copyright
__ Its systems will not interfere with technological controls within the materials I want to use
__ The materials I want to use are specifically for students in my class
__ Only those students will have access to the materials
__ The materials will be provided at my direction during the relevant lesson
__ The materials are directly related and of material assistance to my teaching content
__ My class is part of the regular offerings of my institution
__ I will include a notice that the materials are protected by copyright
__ I will use technology that reasonably limits the students' ability to retain or further distribute the materials
__ I will make the materials available to the students only for a period of time that is relevant to the context of the class session
__ I will store the materials on a secure server and transmit them only as permitted by this law
__ I will not make copies other than the one I need to make the transmission
__ The materials are of the proper type and amount the law authorizes
__ The materials are not among those the law specifically excludes from its coverage:
__ If I am using an analog original, I checked before digitizing it to be sure:
"TEACH Act Checklist" by University of Texas Libraries, used under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 2.0 Generic License