President Bush signed the Technology, Education, and Copyright Harmonization (TEACH) Act into law November 2. The legislation had been passed by Congress as an amendment to the Justice Department reauthorization bill (H.R. 2215).
According to the American Library Association’s Washington Office, the TEACH Act expands existing “face-to-face” teaching exemptions in the copyright law to allow teachers at accredited, nonprofit educational institutions throughout the U.S. to use copyright-protected materials in distance education—including on Web sites and by other digital means—without prior permission from the copyright owner and without payment of royalties.
The Washington Office has posted a Web page providing a detailed summary of the new standards and requirement established by the TEACH Act. In addition, ALA’s Office for Information Technology Policy will offer an e-mail tutorial on distance education and copyright in the near future.
Posted November 11, 2002.