That 2002 TEACH Act allows educators additional rights beyond fair use to incorporate copyrighted material in distance education classes. While TEACH Act does not provide one-to-one parity with the rights permitted for in-person instruction, it allows educators to use some copyrighted material in an online class without permission or a license.
Conditions:
Adapted from the University of Texas Copyright Crash Course- TEACH Act. For more information, see the attribute notice on the bottom of this page.
Not everyone, nor every work, is covered. Section 110(2) only applies to accredited nonprofit educational institutions. The rights granted do not extend to the use of works primarily produced or marketed for in-class use in the online education market; works the instructor knows or has reason to believe were not lawfully made or acquired; or textbooks, coursepacks and other materials typically purchased by students individually.
This last exclusion results from the definition of "mediated instructional activities," a key concept within the expanded Section 110(2) meant to limit it to the kinds of materials an instructor would actually incorporate into a class-time lecture. In other words, the TEACH Act covers works an instructor would show or play during class such as movie or music clips, images of artworks in an art history class, or a poetry reading. It does not cover materials an instructor may want students to study, read, listen to or watch on their own time outside of class. Instructors will have to rely on other rights to post those materials, such as the fair use statute, or get permission.
Adapted from the University of Texas Copyright Crash Course- TEACH Act. For more information, see the attribute notice on the bottom of this page.
Finally, a new section was added to the Copyright Act to authorize educators to make the copies necessary to display and perform works in an online environment. New Section 112(f) (ephemeral recordings) works with Section 110 to permit those authorized to perform and display works under 110 to copy digital works and digitize analog works in order to make authorized displays and performances so long as:
Because of the many limitations, Section 110(2) won't go far enough in many situations; remember that educators still have recourse to fair use to make copies, create derivative works, display and perform works publicly and distribute them to students. So, don't be discouraged by Section 110(2)'s scope and complexity. If it covers what you want to do and you and your institution can comply with all of its conditions and limitations, great! If it does not, you still have the fair use statute.
Adapted from the University of Texas Copyright Crash Course- TEACH Act. For more information, see the attribute notice on the bottom of this page.
More information about fair use and incorporating material into a course can be found in the Library Support for Faculty Teaching LibGuide.
All boxes on this page, except "What is the TEACH Act?" and "Copyright and Library Support for Meadville Lombard Faculty," were adapted from the text of the University of Texas Copyright Crash Course- TEACH Act (licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 2.0 Generic License)
Copyright law is complicated and legal concerns should be addressed by legal counsel. All copyright guidance on this page is informational and not legal advice.
Meadville Lombard Wiggin Library
180 N. Wabash Ave.
Suite 625
Chicago, IL 60601
Library and Archives Phone: 312-546-6488 Library Email: library@meadville.edu Archives Email: archives@meadville.edu