Research Guides: Copyright and Fair Use Guide: Applying Copyright in Higher Ed

Copyright on Campus [Video]

Copyright on Campus
In this video from the Copyright Clearance Center (CCC), "Jane the librarian educates her university colleagues about copyright law and its impact on the academic institution’s use of intellectual property."

Copyright in Distance Education

Guides to understanding the Technology, Education and Copyright Harmonization Act (TEACH Act) and its implications to Distance Education:

TEACH Toolkit
Provides an overview and checklists for implementation.
New Copyright Law for Distance Education: The Meaning and Importance of the TEACH Act
An understandable analysis of the act and its implication for instructors, librarians and institutions (including FAQ's), prepared for the American Library Association by Kenneth C. Crews, Professor of Law.
Best Practices When Using Blackboard
Balancing Copyright Concerns: the Teach Act of 2001
by Laura Gassaway
An Intellectual Property Primer for Online Instructors
from the University of California Irvine
Technological Protection Systems for Digitized Copyrighted Works: A Report to Congress

More information on the complex issues involved with copyright and distance education:

Overview of the DMCA (American Library Association)
A discussion of the DMCA and its impact on research.
TEACH Act, in the Copyright Crash Course
from the University of Texas Office of General Counsel
U.S. Copyright Office, Library of Congress
Includes text of copyright laws, copyright basics, and FAQ.

The American Library Association also provides up-to-date information on Copyright issues.

Showing Movies to a Class

Use of Movies in the Classroom (Section 110 of the Copyright Law):

Movies must be legally acquired
Rented, purchased, borrowed from the Library
Copies are not legal
Movies must be supervised by the instructor
Movies must be "an integral part of the class"
Movies must be shown only to students enrolled in the class

The use of movies in the digital classroom is further complicated by the DMCA.

If you need to show a film in an online class, please contact the library to inquire about either licensing a streaming version of the film or investigating copyright permissions to digitize the film.

Employment Issues

Copyright for work performed in the course of your employment may belong to your employer.

In the case of works made "for hire", the employer and not the employee is considered to be the author. Section 101 of the copyright statute defines a "work made for hire" as:
1. a work prepared by an employee within the scope of his or her employment; or
2. a work specially ordered or commissioned for use as a contribution to a collective work, as a part of a motion picture or other audiovisual work, as a translation, as a supplementary work, as a compilation, as an instructional text, as a test, as answer material for a test, or as an atlas, if the parties expressly agree in a written instrument signed by them that the work shall be considered a work made for hire.... For the purpose of the foregoing sentence, ... an "instructional text" is a literary, pictorial, or graphic work prepared for publication and with the purpose of use in systematic instructional activities.
Many universities allow professors to maintain copyright ownership of scholarly publications, such as books and journal articles.