Legality Issues | Origin: EL114
This is a general discussion forum for the following learning topic:
Respecting Copyrights and Leveraging Available Resources --> Legality Issues
Post what you've learned about this topic and how you intend to apply it. Feel free to post questions and comments too.
Legality Issues on the conceptual topics of
“fair use “ and “TEACH Act”
Whether an online instructor and a for-profit educational institution are liable for copyright infringement when relying on “fair use” or the TEACH Act to transmit copyrighted materials in an online course without permission.
Rule
Under the Copyright Act of 1976 (17 U.S.C. §106), copyright holders have exclusive rights to reproduce, distribute, publicly perform, and display their works.
Fair Use (17 U.S.C. §107) permits limited unauthorized use based on four factors:
Purpose and character of the use (including whether commercial and/or transformative)
Nature of the copyrighted work
Amount and substantiality used
Effect on the market
The Technology, Education, and Copyright Harmonization Act (17 U.S.C. §110(2)) allows certain digital transmissions of copyrighted works for distance education, but primarily applies to accredited nonprofit institutions and requires strict compliance with statutory conditions (e.g., technological controls, limited access, copyright policies).
Willful infringement may result in statutory damages up to $150,000 per work.
Application
If the instructor uploads or streams copyrighted materials without permission, this implicates reproduction and public performance rights under §106.
Regarding fair use, the commercial nature of a for-profit institution weighs against the first factor, though not dispositive. If substantial portions of expressive works (e.g., films or textbooks) are used and the use substitutes for purchasing licensed materials, the third and fourth factors likely weigh against fair use. A systematic practice of uploading entire works for enrolled students may significantly harm the licensing market.
Regarding the TEACH Act, a for-profit institution likely does not qualify for its protections. Even if it did, failure to implement technological safeguards (e.g., preventing download or retention) or institutional copyright policies would negate the exemption. Noncompliance removes the statutory shield, leaving the conduct subject to ordinary infringement analysis.
The instructor may be directly liable for infringement. The institution may face direct liability if it hosts or transmits the materials, and vicarious or contributory liability if it had the ability to supervise the infringement and benefited financially from tuition revenue.
Conclusion
If fair use does not apply and the TEACH Act exemption is unavailable or unmet, both the instructor and the for-profit institution may be liable under the Copyright Act of 1976. The instructor faces direct infringement liability, while the institution may face direct, contributory, and vicarious liability, including statutory damages, injunctions, and attorneys’ fees.
Research and honor intellectual property. As for permission to use, look for copyright information. -Brandy Gustavus
Instructors must make sure they staying up to date with new laws and/or rules when it comes to technology today.
There is a difference between non-profit and for-profit institutions in what the law allows.
I see this being more of an issue now that we have Chat GPT and other AI avenues that students can use. I wonder how copyright fits into AI information.
While the legal guidelines covering copyrights are slow to keep up with changes and technologies, instructors must be cognizant of the potential copyright violations when introducing materials in their classroom. There are many sources of information to help with this and that can support developing and updating an institution's copyright policies.
I never realized the Fair Use Act, which I think many instructors rely upon to help them know what and how much information they can use from a source, doesn't apply at all to for profit institutions.
Copyright law period, utilizing articles more than once would require permission although the article is posted online.
I think a course on 'copyright laws' should be required for each new instructor. I rarely hear coworkers discussing this issue and it's because there is so little understanding if it.
Understanding fair use and copyright laws is so important and this is an area that I am not clear on. This lesson clarifies and answers many of my questions.
Legally speaking, understanding fair use and copyright laws can help prevent any unfortunate consequences. I wouldn't want my work taken and used without permission and I wouldn't do that to others.
Knowing about copyright laws can prevent a lot of costly legal ramifications.
Definitely feel like I understand Fair Use now, but still hoping to learn more about obtaining permission or using excerpts and the correct way to cite and give credit to the original author.
It seems with even the best of intentions, copyright law is so complex that it is very easy to violate, even with the most moral of intentions. The best best may be to always link to a location where the copyright holder has posted the work, or to ask permission through copyrightl.com. Particularly, I don't think most instructors know how limited "Fair Use" is or that they can only use something one time in one class, not in repeated courses, and that they may only use a small percentage of the work.
Great information! I will review my institution's policy on copywritten information and how faculty are to proceed in using intellectual property in the classroom.
This content scares me -- I've attended copyright training in the past, but I certainly could use a refresher in what I can and cannot do. I also think that leaving for-profit institutions out in the cold makes it unnecessarily difficult for instructors -- many of whom work for both profit and non-profit schools.
One thing that I learned was that when the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, Section 107, was legislated, "It is known as the fair use section, and educators since then have been using it as a means to obtain and use copyrighted materials."
Of course instructors have to consider the rights of fair use.
Fair use and TEACH act are for non-profit institutions only.
In this module I could review history of copyright purpose and evoluton trough time.
