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Teaching & Learning Center:Copyright Information

Copyright
Excerpted from the California Virtual Campus Professional Development Center website
http://pdc.cvc.edu/common/

TEACH Act
(Technology, Education and Copyright Harmonization Act) signed into law, November 2002.

This law only affects accredited, non-profit educational institutions If instructors wish to use copyrighted materials, they must reasonably:

  • limit access to copyrighted works to students currently enrolled in the class;
  • limit access only for the time needed to complete the class session or course;
  • inform instructors, students, and staff of copyright laws and policies;
  • prevent further copying or redistribution of copyrighted works; and
  • not interfere with copy protection mechanisms

Materials that Cannot Be Used

  • Works that are produced for the sole purpose of being used in distance education.
  • Materials in the digital classroom in order to avoid purchase. Students enrolled in the class must purchase required reading, such as textbooks, course packs and consumable workbooks. However, a teacher may choose to use a small portion from required course materials in the digital classroom, such as a graph that appears in the purchased textbook.
  • Unlawfully made copies of works, such as pirated copies of music or films downloaded from peer-to-peer file sharing sources.
  • Course reserves: Under the new law, course reserves (whether in electronic or print form) are considered “supplemental course resources” and are not applicable to the TEACH exemptions.

When to take advantage of the TEACH Act:
Designed by Georgia Harper for the University of Texas.

  • The institution is a nonprofit accredited educational institution or a governmental agency
  • Only my registered students will have access to the materials; I will use technology that reasonably limits the students' ability to retain or further distribute 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
  • I will include a notice that the materials are protected by copyright
  • I will make the materials available to the students only for a period of time that is relevant to the context of a class session
  • I will store the materials on a secure server and transmit them only as permitted by this law
    will not make any copies other than the one I need to make the transmission
  • The materials are of the proper type and amount the law authorizes:
    • Entire performances of nondramatic literary and musical works
    • Reasonable and limited parts of a dramatic literary, musical, or audiovisual works
    • Displays of other works, such as images, in amounts similar to typical displays in face-to-face teaching
  • The materials are not among those the law specifically excludes from its coverage:
    • Materials specifically marketed for classroom use for digital distance education
    • Copies I know or should know are illegal
    • Textbooks, coursepacks, electronic reserves and similar materials typically purchased individually by the students for independent review outside the classroom or class session

 

Copyright and Fair Use Stanford University Libraries,
http://fairuse.stanford.edu/Copyright_and_Fair_Use_Overview/chapter7/

Academic Freedom, Privacy, Copyright, and Fair Use in a Technological World
http://www.academicsenate.cc.ca.us/Publications/Papers/Intellectual.htm

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