The Teach Act

The Technology, Education, and Copyright Harmonization Act (TEACH Act), a bill introduced by Senator Patrick Leahy (D - Virginia) and Senator Orrin G. Hatch (R - Utah), is based on a study completed by the U.S. Copyright Office. This bill uses the terms “reasonable and limited portions” to describe the amount of material that can be fairly used and is intended to broaden the rights of educational institutions that offer online and distance education courses by extending the copyright exemption for instructional transmissions. This amendment to the Copyright Act of 1976 allows for movies, video and recorded theatre performances to be shown over the Internet under certain conditions.

The TEACH Act:

1. Expands the categories of works beyond non-dramatic literary and musical works;
2. Recognizes that students should be able to access educational content anywhere at anytime they have access to a computer;
3. Allows for the storage of copyrighted materials on a server for asynchronous performances and displays;
4. Permits institutions to digitize works in cases where digitized versions do not already exist or are not subject to technological protection measures that prevent such digitization
5. Eliminates liability for infringement that occurs through digital transmission in authorized distance education courses.