Faculty Video Use & Copyright
The Technology, Education, and Copyright Harmonization (TEACH) Act of 2002 extends many privileges to faculty teaching in an online context, for example, when using a learning management system such as Canvas or in a distance-education context.
The TEACH Act defines both the array of resources and the amount of those resources that can be transmitted from one location to another in the context of an online course. Generally, the following describes the conditions under which copyrighted works can be used under the TEACH Act:
1. The work transmitted is lawfully made or acquired.
2. The work transmitted is not marketed for instructional purposes.
3. The work transmitted is integral to a class session.
4. The work transmitted is part of instructional activities supervised by the instructor.
5. The nature and portion of the transmitted work accord with the following guidelines:
A. a non-dramatic literary work (You may use all.);
B. a non-dramatic musical work (You may use all.);
C. a performance of any other work, including dramatic works and audiovisual works (You may use only reasonable and limited portions or a display in an amount comparable to that which is typically displayed in the course of a live classroom session.).
6. Reception of the work is limited to students enrolled in the course.
7. Students' retention of the work is for no longer than the limit of a class session.
8. Reasonable downstream controls have been instituted to discourage or prevent subsequent dissemination beyond the student recipient.
9. For conversions of a copyrighted work from analog to digital form:
A. no digital version is available to the institution, or;
B. a digital version is available but technologically protected.
10. A copyright warning notice is present on the transmitted work.
For more information, visit ALA's guide to The TEACH Act:
Guidelines for Best Practices
The code identifies eight situations that represents the library community's current consensus about acceptable practices for the fair use of copyrighted materials and how those rights should apply in certain recurrent situations.
Created by the International Communication Association. Helps U.S. communication scholars to interpret the copyright doctrine of fair use.
A code of best practices that helps educators using media literacy concepts and techniques to interpret the copyright doctrine of fair use.
A code of best practices that helps creators, online providers, copyright holders, and others interested in the making of online video interpret the copyright doctrine of fair use.
Obtaining Public Performance Rights (PPR)
Individuals and organizations are responsible for obtaining public performance rights for all non-exempt showings. There are two ways to obtain PPR, also known as permission or a license:
1. Contact the copyright holder directly, or contact the distributor. If the distributor has the authority from the copyright owner to grant licenses, to purchase public performance rights or to request permission for a particular public performance use, permission or license can be directly obtained.
2. Contact the licensing service representing the particular studio or title (note - this will generally be required for all feature length films). Services vary in the types of licensing offered and the scope of materials represented. Some of the companies that provide (for a fee) public performance licenses are listed below:
Free, Open, Public-Licensed, and Public Domain Audiovisual Works for Nonprofit Use
Generally, many of these sites may list sources that are free to use in an educational setting, but they must be acknowledged, sometimes according to guidelines in the resource. Read the Licenses, Terms of Use, or FAQs within each website for further details for any restrictions on use.
A large collection of videos licensed under one of the Creative Commons licenses or the Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication. Note that many videos on Vimeo are under copyright and have not been licensed under any open license.
A service of the Internet Archive. It contains free movies, films, and video, many of which are licensed under one of the Creative Commons licenses or are in the public domain.
From the Library of Congress, this provides a number of collections of early motion pictures, many of which are in the public domain.
A web-based publication of virtually all MIT course content. OCW is open and available to the world and is a permanent MIT activity.
A collection of recorded presentations from the TED (Technology, Entertainment Design) conference. Talks are generally short and run the gamut of topics from biotechnology to astronomy to population to urban design and beyond.
Face-to-Face Teaching in the Classroom
1. Copyrighted DVDs: Generally, showing all or part of a lawfully obtained video in your classroom is allowed under Fair Use as long as all four factors of the “Fair Use Test” are met. The teaching activity is for students registered for class and instructional activity must be taking place. Rental DVDs and personal copies can be shown as long as they are lawfully made.
2. Streaming Services Such as Netflix: The Netflix Terms of Use states that "The Netflix service, and any content viewed through our service, are for your personal and non-commercial use only. " Current interpretation of personal subscription services such as Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime, etc. is that the educational exemptions found in copyright law does not apply to these services.
3. Broadcast Programs: May be recorded and retained by a non-profit educational institution for a period not to exceed the first forty-five (45) consecutive calendar days after date of recording. Upon conclusion of such retention period, all off air recordings must be erased or destroyed immediately.