The document provides an overview of copyright law and the TEACH Act as it relates to distance and online education. It discusses that copyright is jointly assigned to multiple authors of a work for the portion they created. It also notes that the TEACH Act aims to balance the needs of academia to freely use copyrighted materials for teaching with the needs of copyright holders to protect their work. Key points covered include that the TEACH Act allows transmission to any location and lessons to be available for a limited time, and that educators and institutions must understand and comply with its principles.

1. ©opyright Law & the TEACH Act A primer for distance and online educators Barbara Babcock for EDG6931

2. Authorship & Ownership The creator of an original work owns the copyright to that work Materials created by any US government agency are in the public domain

12. TEACH and Learners Lessons may be presented in a variety of media and available to students for a period of time Students may not be able to download lessons to their own personal computer

13. When in Doubt… Don’t break the law—get permission Know your institution’s copyright policy, and follow it For more information, visit sites: www.lib.ncsu.edu.sec/tutorial/index.htm www.uidaho.edu.eo www.copyright.iupui.edu

14. For more information For more information on TEACH, visit: www.lib.ncsu.edu.sec/tutorial/index.htm www.uidaho.edu.eo www.copyright.iupui.edu

15. References Copyright and Distance Education (ONLINE). http://www.uidaho.edu/eo/dist12.html. Crews, Kenneth D. (2002). “New Copyright Law for Distance Education: The Meaning and Importance of the TEACH ACT”. (ONLINE). http://www.ala.org/ala/washoff/WOissues/copyrightb/distanceed/teachsummary.pdf Hoon, Peggy E. (2002). “The TEACH Toolkit: An Online Resource for Understanding Copyright and Distance Education”. (ONLINE). http://www.lib.ncsu.edu/scc/legislative/teachkit/background.html Hoon, Peggy E. (2002). “Scholarly Communication Center: Tutorial Series”. (ONLINE). http://www.lib.ncsu.edu.scc.tutorial/copyuse/index.html