Copyright & Fair Use in Teaching & Research

For teaching, copyright is sometimes a sticky issue. Do you need to get permission for use from the copyright holder or is there an exemption for your situation? This page includes information about how copyright exemptions like the TEACH Act and Fair Use affect the use of copyrighted materials in teaching.

The Teach Act gives certain permissions to non-profit educational institutions for using copyrighted works in the classroom without permission from the rights holder. This is not the same as Fair Use. The TEACH Act states that a copyrighted work may be displayed to a distance education course without consultation with the rights holder if: ​

1. The use of the work is an integral part of the class session
2. The work is available only to students of the class
3. The work is only available for the duration of a class session or course
4. A reasonable effort is made to instruct students against unlawful redistribution of the work
5. Digital copies of the work are only made if the content is not otherwise digitally available

For more information about the TEACH Act, consult the resources below:

As we covered in the Fair Use tab for this guide, there are four factors that contribute to whether an educator's use of a copyrighted work is covered under Fair Use: 

1. the purpose and character of the use;
2. the nature of the copyrighted work;
3. the amount and substantiality of the portion used; and
4. the effect of the use upon the copyrighted work.

For more information about how Fair Use affects educators, consult the resources below: