Copyright and Intellectual Property Toolkit

In the Classroom

According to the §110 (1) of Title 17 of the U.S. Copyright Act, at nonprofit, accedited ducational institutions (such as Occidental) you are free to display and perform any copyrighted work so long as it meets the pedagogical purposes of your course as part of “face-to-face” teaching. The viewing should be limited to only students participating in your course at the specific time of the material use. 

One important additional criteria is that the copy of the film that is screened has to be legally acquired, e.g. a copy that you purchased, borrowed from the library.  You can not use a bootlegged or pirated copy.

There are no restrictions on the type or length of work you could perform and You can show a full-length movie, play a full recording of a song, perform arias, read poems, and act out scenes from a play without a license as long as it's within the classroom and meets the Section 110 requirements.

In Online Courses

Distance education is covered by §110 (2), also known as the TEACH Act, which is significantly more restrictive that the face-to-face teaching exemption.  

For online courses, there are three options for displaying and performing copyrighted works: meeting the requirements of the TEACH Act, asking permission (getting a license), and fair use. 

TEACH Act Requirements

There are two major limitations in the TEACH act. First, the use of  “dramatic"* works is restricted to “reasonable and limited portions” which means that, for example, you cannot show an entire copyrighted film like The Avengers in your online class unless you can show that doing so is "reasonable and limited."

The second limitation isthat works specifically created for online or mediated education cannot be used under the TEACH act. (You can still use them by getting permission or a license from the copyright holder or if your use qualifies as a Fair Use.)

If the work is a non-dramatic literary or musical work you can utilize the entire work in your class. 

Additionally, the TEACH Act requires:

• Display of text, images, photos, graphs, etc., is in an amount comparable to what you would have ordinarily shown in a face-to-face classroom setting.
• There is no reasonably priced streaming version of the work available to the institution.
  • Netflix, Amazon Prime, and similar streaming platforms that require an individual account would not count as an institutional streaming version.
• The work is directly related to the pedagogical purposes of the course.
• The work is an integral part of your class session, and part of systematic mediated instructional activities (in which you facilitate the students’ interaction with the work though discussion, responses etc.).
  • This means that the work must be used in the instruction session and not as an assignment that the students complete outside of the instructional session.
• The work is not a textbook, course pack, or other commercial educational work. If this is an item that students would otherwise be required to purchase for your class, it will not be covered by the TEACH Act.
• You will only make the work available to students during the relevant instructional module. It should not be available for the entire duration of the course.
• The work will only be available to students who are enrolled in the course.
• The work was lawfully made and acquired. 
• Students must be provided with the appropriate copyright notice: “The materials on this course website are only for the use of students enrolled in this course for purposes associated with this course and may not be retained or further disseminated.”

*The Copyright Act doesn’t define dramatic or non-dramatic. According to Nimmer on Copyright,  a dramatic work is "'a written or literary work invented and set in order' in which the narrative is not related but is represented by dialogue and action."  It is "a work in which the narrative is told by dialogue and action, and the characters go through a series of events which tell a connected story…"

Outside the Classroom

The performance or showing of films, videos, and TV programs in a similar teaching venue (i.e., not necessarily a classroom) for face-to-face teaching is still covered under Section 110 (1) of the U.S. Copyright Act.

The display or performance must still meet the pedagogical purposes of your course and be limited to those participating in the course.

The display or performance cannot be open to the public or freely available via the Internet.

The main point here is that the venue for teaching does not have to be limited to a traditional classroom. However, the film's use for teaching or educational purposes does need to follow the parameters set out by the TEACH Act.

TEACH Act Checklist

Use this checklist to see if you are ready to use the TEACH Act

__ My institution is a nonprofit accredited educational institution or a government agency

__ It has a policy on the use of copyrighted materials

__ It provides accurate information to faculty, students and staff about copyright

__ Its systems will not interfere with technological controls within the materials I want to use

__ The materials I want to use are specifically for students in my class

__ Only those students will have access to the materials

__ The materials will be provided at my direction during the relevant lesson

__ The materials are directly related and of material assistance to my teaching content

__ My class is part of the regular offerings of my institution

__ I will include a notice that the materials are protected by copyright

__ I will use technology that reasonably limits the students' ability to retain or further distribute the materials

__ I will make the materials available to the students only for a period of time that is relevant to the context of the class session

__ I will store the materials on a secure server and transmit them only as permitted by this law

__ I will not make copies other than the one I need to make the transmission

__ The materials are of the proper type and amount the law authorizes

• Entire performances of nondramatic literary and musical works
• Reasonable and limited parts of a dramatic literary, musical, or audiovisual work
• Displays of other works, such as images, in amounts similar to typical displays in face-to-face teaching

__ The materials are not among those the law specifically excludes from its coverage:

• Materials specifically marketed for classroom use for online education
• Copies I know or should know are illegal
• Textbooks, coursepacks, electronic reserves and similar materials typically purchased individually by the students for independent review outside the classroom or class session

__ If I am using an analog original, I checked before digitizing it to be sure:

• I copied only the amount that I am authorized to transmit
• There is no digital copy of the work available except one with technological protections that prevent my using it for the class in the way the statute authorizes