Copyright for Instructors: Overview

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This information is intended for informational purposes only and not as legal advice. 

Copyright Law Basics

Using copyrighted materials for your class?

Include a notice of copyright on it (ex. “This work is copyrighted and provided for educational use only.”)

The TEACH Act addresses using copyrighted works on the LMS.

The TEACH Act allow us (at an accredited institution) to digitize and share copyrighted materials to our classes IF they:

  • Are legally acquired
  • Pertain to SPECIFIC teaching goals
  • Used in REASONABLE portions
  • Fit into a live classroom session
  • Include a notice of copyright protection

BUT there are some restrictions:

  • Work cannot be produced or marketed PRIMARILY for mediated instructional activities
  • Only currently enrolled students may access these works
  • Students cannot make the works available to others
  • Access must only be available to students for the NECESSARY time period to meet SPECIFIC teaching goals

Also, we CANNOT:

  • Circumvent copyright protection
  • Assign the work for HOMEWORK
  • Use the work as an electronic reserve
  • Put the work on the open Web

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Author Rights granted by Copyright

The author of the work has the right to 

  •  Copy the work 
  •  Make derivative works based on the copyrighted work 
  •  Distribute copies of the work by sale, rental, lease, or lending 
  •  Publicly perform the work 
  •  Publicly display the work (includes posting or embedding it online) 
  •  Publicly perform the work using digital audio transmission (ex. recording or streaming audio or video)

 

User Rights granted by Copyright

If users buy a copy of a copyrighted work, they have the right to 

  • Make copies of the work “for personal use” 
  • Re-sell that copy of the work 
  • Privately perform the work (ex. at a personal party) 
  • Privately display the work (ex. in your office or at home) 
URL: https://lib.pstcc.edu/copyright