Section 110(2) of the Copyright Act, a provision sometimes called the TEACH Act, gives accredited, nonprofit U.S. educational institutions the right, under certain circumstances, to use copyrighted materials for organized instructional activities that are not in face-to-face traditional classroom settings. Fair use, codified at Section 107 of the Copyright Act, also provides users rights to use materials without permission under certain circumstances and can apply to online education.

Penn State policy IP05 Policy Governing Copyright Clearance (Formerly AD46) discusses use of the TEACH Act at Penn State.

Basics of the TEACH Act

The TEACH Act does not apply to either of the following:

• any “work produced or marketed primarily for performance or display as part of mediated instructional activities transmitted via digital networks” or
• uses of any “copy or phonorecord that is not lawfully made and acquired under this title” (if the institution knows or should know it was not lawfully made or acquired).

Under the right circumstances, the TEACH Act allows the following (subject to the conditions detailed below):

• “performance of a nondramatic literary or musical work,”
• “performance of . . . reasonable and limited portions of any other work,” or
  
• “display of a work in an amount comparable to that which is typically displayed in the course of a live classroom session.”

For example, what’s allowed includes transmitting any of the following to enrolled students via Zoom or a via recorded Zoom session distributed to enrolled students:

• Your own reading of a poem, book, or other nondramatic literary work
• Your own piano performance of a musical work
• Your own reading of a “reasonable and limited portion” of a play (which is a dramatic literary work)
• A “reasonable and limited portion” of an audiovisual work (such as a TV episode or a film) or a sound recording
• A display of an image “in an amount comparable to that which is typically displayed in the course of a live classroom session“

To qualify, uses must meet the following additional conditions:

• “the performance or display is made by, at the direction of, or under the actual supervision of an instructor as an integral part of a class session offered as a regular part of the systematic mediated instructional activities of a governmental body or an accredited nonprofit educational institution,”
• “the performance or display is directly related and of material assistance to the teaching content of the transmission,”
• “the transmission is made solely for, and, to the extent technologically feasible, the reception of such transmission is limited to students officially enrolled in the course for which the transmission is made,”
• the transmitting institution institutes certain policies related to copyright (which Penn State has done), and
• in the case of digital transmissions, the transmitting institution applies certain technological protection measures.

Please keep in mind that uses permitted by the TEACH Act are often also permitted by fair use, which does not have these additional requirements. Members of the Penn State community are encouraged to contact the Office of Scholarly Communications and Copyright with questions.

Frequently Asked Questions about the TEACH Act

How does fair use relate to the TEACH Act?

Fair use is a separate right for users under U.S. copyright law. If fair use permits a particular use of material, it is not necessary to consider the TEACH Act. Similarly, if the TEACH Act permits a particular use of material, it is not necessary to consider fair use.

Does the TEACH Act apply only to for-credit courses?

Non-credit courses can use copyrighted materials under the TEACH Act so long as:

1. access to the copyrighted materials is limited to “students officially enrolled in the course for which the transmission is made,” and
2. the course is “offered as a regular part of the systematic mediated instructional activities” of the institution

How can I meet the TEACH Act requirement of preventing my students from downloading copyrighted materials such as an image of an artist or photographer’s work and redistributing it without permission?

The TEACH Act requires that reasonable efforts be made to prevent retention and dissemination of copyrighted works displayed electronically during the course of instruction.

For example, a visual arts professor teaching an online photography course might have an assignment about the challenges of shooting outdoor photographs in snow. The professor wants to use several snow scene photographs that are copyrighted by a professional nature photographer.

Under the TEACH Act, this would be permissible if the professor takes reasonable steps to ensure the students couldn’t then copy and distribute the images without the copyright holder’s permission. The professor would also need to own a legal copy of the prints, and inform the students that the prints are copyrighted.

Reasonable measures available to the professor to limit the value or use of such downloaded/printed copies include:

• watermarking the image so printed or online versions have a copyright or other mark,
• restricting print capabilities (this would include removing a print option entirely),
• preventing the ability to copy and paste an image onto another Web site,
• and/or the use of low-quality, low-resolution images that would not look good in a printed form.

How can technology available at Penn State help with compliance with the requirement of preventing students from downloading copyrighted materials?

Currently, many different types of technology are used at Penn State that can help faculty comply with the requirements of the TEACH Act. Some of these technologies include the use of authentication and streaming video and audio data to prevent unauthorized storage, copying, and distribution of material. Canvas is a convenient way for faculty at Penn State to limit access to copyrighted material.