The TEACH Act is extremely useful for distance learning courses, as it allows for more generous copyright rules than are typically allowed.
Per the Copyright Clearance Center, the TEACH Act allows for:
• Instructors to use a wider range of works in distance learning environments
• Students to participate in distance learning sessions from virtually any location
• Participants to enjoy greater latitude when it comes to storing, copying and digitizing materials
(The TEACH Act, 2011)
Kettering University uses Blackboard for its distance learning courses. Blackboard allows students and faculty to exchange information and resources securely. The TEACH Act allows for a wider range of resources to be shared in distance education, however, limitations do apply. Please see the following chart for examples of what can/cannot be shared on Blackboard:
With the goal of availing Kettering University of the benefits of the 2002 TEACH Act (Public Law
107-273; TITLE III; Subtitle C; herein called The Act), and mindful that Kettering University is a
qualified institution as defined by The Act, the following is required:
1. The Administration must verify that policies exist regarding copyrights that promote compliance with the laws of the United States relating to copyright;
2. The Administration must provide at least once a year informational materials to faculty, students, and staff members that accurately describe, and promote compliance with the laws of the United States relating to copyright including a prohibition of conduct that could reasonably be expected to interfere with technological measures used by copyright owners to prevent retention or unauthorized further dissemination of works used in distance learning;
3. The Administration must (1) provide distance learning teachers with technological measures that reasonably allow only actual enrolled students to use distance learning materials; (2) provide distance learning teachers with technological measures that reasonably prevent retention of works used in distance learning in accessible form by student recipients for longer than a class session; and (3) provide distance learning teachers with technological measures that reasonably prevent unauthorized further dissemination of works in accessible form by such recipients to others; and
4. The Administration establishes as policy that faculty who use copyrighted materials (without having obtained permission from the copyright holder) in electronic formats as part of distance learning do so only under these conditions:
a. The materials must be an integral part of the curriculum of an actual Kettering
University course.
b. The materials must be specifically delineated by the course instructor.
c. The quantity of material provided must be comparable to that typically displayed in a live classroom session under established fair use standards.
d. Faculty must communicate to students that the materials may be subject to copyright protection and that students are not to make copies of the materials nor to permit others to use the materials.
e. Faculty must use technological measures provided by the Administration to have materials available only to actual enrolled students and only for a period of time commensurate with a class session.
f. Faculty shall not use the works of others that were specifically created for use as distance learning materials; shall not use works that the faculty member knows, or has reason to believe, are not lawfully made; and shall not convert works from analog to digital form unless no digital version of the work is available, or the digital version employs technological protection measures that prevent its use (Final Text-Copyright Policy, 2011).
Most of this draft policy on copyrights is adapted from a policy of the University of Michigan.
Final Text: Copyright Policy of Kettering University. (Rep.). (2011). Approved by the Executive Committee of the Kettering University Board of Trustees.