Copyright and Distance Education: The Impact of the Technology, Education, and Copyright Harmonization Act

Copyright in the United States can be traced back to the U.S. Constitution in 1787. To encourage authorship of creative works, Congress created a limited monopoly in Section 106 of the Copyright Act of 1790. To balance this monopoly, Congress drafted Section 107 which provides public access to creative works through fair use. Revisions were necessary due to new information technologies. However, these revisions created an imbalance between traditional and distance education classrooms. In 2002, this imbalance was addressed through the Technology, Education, and Copyright Harmonization Act (TEACH). In an effort to make copyright law friendlier towards internet-based distance education, Congress modified Section 110(2), performances and displays, and Section 112(f), digitization of analog materials. Discussion of the TEACH Act and compliance recommendations for first-time online instructors are addressed. (Contains 2 tables.)