Copyright Information for Faculty and Students: Classroom Use

In recogntion of the importance of teaching, Federal law allows some use of copyrighted materials without requiring the copyright owner's permission. 

Teaching exception: Section 110(1) of the U.S. Copyright Act permits the instructor or students in a face-to-face course to display or perform copyrighted works in class as long as 1) they are part of teaching activities relevant to the course topic and 2) any audiovisual materials were legally obtained. Bootleg copies, such as copies you or a friend or colleague made when the item is available for purchase or licensing, are not allowed.

Federal law is not as generous to online courses as it is to face-to-face courses. But Federal law does allow some use of copyrighted materials without requiring the copyright owner's permission. 

The TEACH Act: Section 110(2), known as the TEACH Act, of the U.S. Copyright Act allows in online courses "the performance of a nondramatic literary or musical work or 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" provided that 1) it is under the direction or supervision of an instructor as an integral part of a regular class session, 2) is directly related to and of material assistance in the teaching content, 3) is limited to students officially enrolled in the course (this is accomplished, for example, by having the material in Canvas), 4) is not a work produced or marketed for instruction and transmitted digitally (those works should be licensed or purchased), and 5) was legally obtained. Access should be limited to the duration of the course. The TEACH Act requires that you must take technological measures (to the extent technologically feasible) to keep students from keeping a permanent copy or sharing it with others outside of the class; you can do this by managing user permissions in Canvas.

"Fair use" allows use of copyrighted material without the permission of or payment to the copyright holder. Section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Act limits the exclusive rights of copyright holders by allowing "fair use" of copyrighted works "for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching (including muliple copies for classroom use), scholarship, or research." This list of purposes is not complete; other purposes may be fair use. Four factors are to be considered in determining if the use is a "fair use":

(1) the purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of a commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes;

(2) the nature of the copyrighted work;

(3) the amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole; and

(4) the effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work.

Fair use is a flexible, not a straightforward, concept. You need to consider all four factors for yourself in determining whether you think a  use you want to make of something is a fair use. Fortunately, there are several checklists available to help you make that determination; they are linked below. Please keep a copy of your answers just in case your fair use determination is ever challenged (this is wildly unlikely to happen, but just in case).

Fair Use Checklist from Columbia University Libraries

Fair Use Checklist from the University System of Georgia

Fair Use Checklist from the University of Arizona

Depending on why they didn't apply, you could:

1. Use less of the copyrighted item, which might allow fair use or the teaching exception to apply.

2. Find something else to use that is in the public domain or is open access, such as an Open Educational Resource or someting with a Creative Commons license.

3. Find something that is already licensed by the Goucher Library for use.

4. Seek permission from the copyright holder to use the item.