Some general advice about using copyrighted material is provided below. This section of the guide also provides specific guidance on:
This part of the guide also provides information about exceptions to the copyright law that apply to instructors including the TEACH Act and the Classroom Use Exception.
Finally, there are a couple of tools you can use to help determine if your use is fair or covered by another exemption.
When trying to determine if you can use given material, try to think systematically about your use, the copyright status of the material you want to use, and the exceptions to the copyright law that might apply to your situation.
Start any analysis with two very basic questions:Once you have determined that copyright will come into play, figure out if your use is permitted by an existing exception (like fair use, the Classroom Use Exception, or the TEACH Act). If so, you can use it legally. When thinking about these exceptions, it can be useful to keep in mind that, in the face-to-face classroom, the two exceptions that are likely to apply are the Classroom Use Exception and fair use. In the online classroom, most often you will be looking to apply fair use, though in some cases the TEACH Act will apply.
If you have determined that your use would exercise one of the exclusive rights of copyright, the work is copyrightable and still under copyright, and no exception applies to your use, you will need to seek permission at that point.
The U.S. Copyright Code provides for the educational use of copyrighted material without the permission of the copyright holder under certain conditions. Use this free online tool developed by the American Library Association to find out if your intended use meets the requirements set out in the law. This tool can also help you collect information detailing your educational use and provide you with a summary in PDF format.
The Classroom Use Exception
When the Classroom Use Exception applies to your situation, as it does in only limited cases, the rights it gives you are absolutely clear.
To qualify, you must be teaching face-to-face in a classroom setting at a non-profit educational institution. In such a setting, the exception gives you the right to perform or display any copyrighted works at any length. Examples of the kinds of activities this would permit:
Remember that this exception does not permit copying or distribution. Remember that copyright is actually a bundle of rights. This exception gives you the right to use just two of the rights in that bundle: performance and display. This means that the classroom exception does not give you the right to make copies and hand them out or to make a copy of an image in order to display it.
This exception only applies to teaching that happens in person in a classroom setting. It does not apply to course websites, synchronous or asynchronous online instruction, or any other mode of instruction where all of the participants are not joined together in person in a classroom (or classroom-like) setting.
The following books provide additional information on copyright law for educators. Some titles are Reference and cannot be checked out. Others are available in the Stacks and can be checked out with your MCC library card.
Copyright for Teachers and Librarians by 
Copyright Law and the Distance Education Classroom by 
Copyright Law for Librarians and Educators by 
Managing Copyright in Higher Education by 
Questions & Answers on Copyright for the Campus Community by The TEACH Act: How Online Instruction Is Different
You may be wondering why the laws that apply in the physical classroom don't apply in the online classroom. The short answer is that, as distance education began to become commonplace, there was an effort to update the Classroom Use Exception that educators have always relied upon to give us broad latitude to display and perform copyrighted materials in our classroom to apply to the distance education classroom. There was great fear on the part of content owners that digital copies of their works in online classrooms would lead to widespread piracy. Thus, the TEACH Act was born. TEACH is wonderful when it works because it clarifies whether our use is legal. However, it also imposes much greater restrictions on the online instructor than are felt by the face-to-face instructor.
Keep in mind, the only part of the law that really differs between the distance classroom and the face-to-face classroom is the Classroom Use Exception. Online instructors still benefit from fair use and, in many cases, we can make fair uses of materials that would not meet the extensive requirements of the TEACH Act.
TEACH Act Criteria
TEACH has a list of criteria that must be true in order to make use of its protections. You can automatically assume many of these to be true for classes you are teaching. These include the following:
The following criteria must be evaluated if you want to make use of TEACH:
If your use and material meet all of the criteria above, your use is protected by TEACH. Use of materials under the TEACH Act gives you the peace of mind that comes with knowing in clear terms that you are not making an infringing use. If your use does not meet all of the above criteria, your use might still be a fair use. Fair use doesn't always offer us the same peace of mind, but it makes up for it by being a flexible and dynamic doctrine designed to support a wide variety of beneficial uses of copyrighted material.
Legal Disclaimer: The information provided in this guide is for general reference purposes only and should not be construed as legal advice of any kind. If you require advice in relation to any specific copyright issues, you should consult an appropriate legal professional about your particular situation.
This page was created using material from Portland Community College Library's page, Copyright Resources, and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.