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TEACH Act

Bottom Line: The Teach Act makes it easier for instructors to use digital audiovisual materials in online/distance courses in the same way that they might use them in their face-to-face courses.

The Technology, Education and Copyright Harmonization (TEACH) Act of 2002 is an amendment to the Copyright Act of 1976. Its purpose was to help universities apply both copyright law and concepts regarding fair use within their distance education courses, as well as in face to face courses that have online components. This includes the use of learning management systems such as CANVAS. It exempts accredited non-profit educational institutions from liability when digitally transmitting a performance or display of a copyrighted work to students officially enrolled in a course. (It does not cover making textual materials available to students.)

HOWEVER, there are many conditions that the copyrighted material must meet in order to be covered by the TEACH Act. The performance or display must be:

  • Part of systematic mediated instructional activity
  • At the direction of or under the actual supervision of the instructor
  • An integral part of a class session
  • A lawfully made copy of the work

The following technological conditions must be met:

  • Digital copies must have technological measures that reasonably prevent recipients from retaining and distributing works beyond the class session (such as streaming video capabilities, “locked” files, etc.)
  • Digital copies made may not interfere with technological protections taken by copyright owners

The following notice must be prominently posted in all online courses with copyrighted material:

“The materials on this course website are only for the use of students enrolled in this course for purposes associated with this course and may not be retained or further disseminated.”

The TEACH Act allows instructors greater freedoms with respect to online education. The principles of the TEACH Act should be applied in addition to the four factors of fair use.