The Technology, Education, and Copyright Harmonization (TEACH) Act, took effect in November 2002. Its purpose was to provide educators a framework for providing transmitted copyrighted works to their students at a distance.

The TEACH act requires that WWU disseminate accurate information regarding copyright. TEACH requires specific actions be taken by the administration, faculty, and information technology personnel for the university.

Administration are responsible for created and disseminating copyright policies to the appropriate faculty and staff. IT personnel are responsible for limiting storage and retreival of copyrighted works. Faculty are responsible for ensuring the copyright compliance of the works they use in their classroom. 

This site assists WWU with disseminating copyright policies, University Information Technologies provides a streaming server to meet the guidelines for limited storage and retrieval of information.  Please contact Instructional Technology Coordinator for more information on the streaming server. 

WWU provides the following information for faculty:

• What material is covered by the TEACH Act?
• What material is excluded from the TEACH Act?
• Instructor oversight responsibilty.
• How to convert analog to digital.

The following works are specifically covered by the TEACH Act.

• Performances of nondramatic literary works;
• Performances of nondramatic musical works;
• Performances of any other work, including dramatic works and audiovisual works, but only in "reasonable and limited portions"; and
• Displays of any work "in an amount comparable to that which is typically displayed in the course of a live classroom session."

Fair Use guidelines apply to the works listed above.

The following are specifically excluded from the act:

• Works that are marketed "primarily for performance or display as part of mediated instructional activities transmitted via digital networks"; and
• Performances or displays given by means of copies "not lawfully made and acquired" under the U.S. Copyright Act, if the educational institution "knew or had reason to believe" that they were not lawfully made and acquired.
  The above section is specifically to preserve the market for educational media.

Instructor's responsibility

The Act requires that faculty be an integral part of the distance education experience. It requires them to be responsible for the transmission of digital works that are an "integral part" of their class. The works must meet the following criteria:

• The performance or display "is made by, at the direction of, or under the actual supervision of an instructor";
• The materials are transmitted "as an integral part of a class session offered as a regular part of the systematic, mediated instructional activities" of the educational institution; and
• The copyrighted materials are "directly related and of material assistance to the teaching content of the transmission."

Converting analog to digital

Another issue covered by the TEACH act is when an instructor can digitize the content for online delivery. Digitized media must meet Fair Use criteria and be unavailable in digital format before an instructor can digitize a print or analog version.

The above information was compiled using the following resources. Many of them provide detailed analysis of the implications of the TEACH Act in the classroom as well as useful checklists if you have any questions about a resource.

American Library Association paper - Distance Education and the TEACH Act

University of Indiana Copyright Management Center - Checklist for Compliance with the TEACH Act