EDUCAUSE, Laura Gasaway
CHRONICLE.COM
3/28/03
Dan Carnavale
http://chronicle.com/free/v49/i29/29a02901.htm
The article contains a short checklist for online courses, courtesy of
North Carolina State University.
11/2/2002
Language that members of Congress added to an appropriations bill was
signed into law which will make it easier for professors to use more kinds
of copyrighted works in online courses. The legislation amends the Copyright
Act of 1976 so that online-education instructors can use "reasonable
and limited portions" of recordings of dramatic literary and musical
works without seeking permission from the copyright owners. There are
benefits to the new law and there are also requirements to be met in order
to use these materials and limitations (see the checklist of the Office of the General Counsel, below). The benefits include expanded
range of allowed works, expansion of receiving locations, expanded storage
of transmitted content, and digitizing of analog works. However, there
are also institutional requirements for copyright compliance, including
copyright policies, "informational materials", notice to students of the
use of copyrighted works, and technological protections for transmitted
works. The language of the bill was from S. 487, the T.E.A.C.H. (Technology
Education and Copyright Harmonization) Act.
See information from the University Attorney's Office for further clarification of this new law.
Major Copyright Bill Affecting Distance Education Becomes Law
ALAWON v. 11 n. 87 (11/4/02)
The site has been designed. Search for the above title.
Expanded rights under the new law include:
Transmitting performances of:
1. "all of a non-dramatic literary or musical work" would include:
2. "reasonable and limited portions of any performance" normally shown in a face-to-face class would include small portions of:
This does not include materials that students may want to read, listen to or watch on their own time outside of class.
3. transmission of displays "in amounts comparable to typical face-to-face displays" (classroom "fair use" amounts) would include still images, such as:
Excluded works include:
Additional Provisions:
Analog (audio/video tape) works may be copied in order to make authorized displays and performances if:
The new law was designed for secure networks, such as K State Online, Blackboard, and WebCT with password protection,and is limited to students enrolled in the class.