Copyright and Fair Use

Fair Use

There are some exceptions to copyrights that allow access to copyright-protected materials for educational purposes. For instance, Fair Use allows instructors and students to incorporate media into projects and instruction even without permission from the copyright holder as long as you use correct citation and follow these guidelines:

• the media that is being used was not created specifically to sell to schools/students
• you are not negatively impacting the commercial value of the work
• the media is being used for an educational purpose
• the media was legally acquired
• the copyright holder is cited properly
• only a portion of the work is being redistributed and/or used
  • 10% or three minutes of a video, whichever is less
  • 10% or 1,000 words, whichever is less
  • 10% or 30 seconds of music, whichever is less
  • entire images can be used but you should only use five works per artist and 10% or 15 images from one published work, whichever is less.

The TEACH Act

Fair use guidelines apply in any educational setting but online teachers also need to follow the guidelines in the TEACH (Technology Education and Copyright Harmonization) Act. Basically, the TEACH Act says that the instructor should take precautions to ensure that materials are only distributed to students in their course.