Copyright Basics

US copyright law permits teachers and students to make certain uses of copyrighted works in face-to-face teaching. As a teacher or student, you are allowed to perform or display a copyrighted work without permission in “a classroom or similar place devoted to instruction” during face-to-face teaching at a nonprofit educational institution.

If the work is a motion picture or other audiovisual work, you must use a copy of the work that was lawfully made.

This is codified at 17 U.S.C. § 110(1).

US copyright law gives teachers the right to use works for distance learning without permission under certain circumstances.

If you

• are, or are acting under direction or actual supervision of, an instructor in a class session offered by an accredited nonprofit educational institution or governmental body;
• are using the material as an integral part of a class session;
• are using the material that is directly related to and of material assistance to your teaching content; and
• are using a copy of the work that was prepared lawfully,

and the copyrighted work

• was not “produced or marketed primarily for performance or display as part of mediated instructional activities transmitted via digital networks;” and
• will be transmitted solely to students officially enrolled in the course for which the transmission is made or officers or employees of governmental bodies as a part of their official duties or employment,

and your use is:

• performing a nondramatic literary work (e.g., reading a short story aloud);
• performing a nondramatic musical work (e.g., singing a song);
• performing a reasonable and limited amount of any other work (e.g., playing an excerpt from a movie); or
• displaying any work in an amount comparable to what would be used in a live classroom,

and your institution

• institutes a copyright policy;
• provides information about copyright to faculty, students, and relevant staff members;
• provides notice to students that materials used in connection with the course may be subject to copyright protection; and
• if the transmission is digital, applies the required technological measures,

then US copyright law permits your use.

This provision, which is sometimes called the TEACH Act, is codified at 17 U.S.C. § 110(2).