TEACH Act Checklist

(Adapted from North Carolinas State’s and the University of Alaska’s TEACH Act Checklist)
CC-BY-SA, Georgia Highlands College Library

Being part of an accredited non-profit educational institution or

Am I am teaching as part of
governmental agency is a necessary first step toward being eligible
Yes No an accredited nonprofit
to use the TEACH Act. GHC is an accredited non-profit educational
educational institution?
institution.
Instructors may not take advantage of the exemptions of the TEACH
Does my institution have a
Yes No Act unless/until their institution has a copyright use policy. 
GHC has
stated copyright use policy?
a stated copyright use policy.
Instructors may not take advantage of the exemptions of the TEACH
Does my institution educate
Act unless/until their institution educates relevant personnel on the
Yes No students, faculty, and staff
legality of using copyright protected works. GHC makes an effort to
on copyright law?
educate its students, staff, and faculty on copyright law.
The TEACH Act does not allow instructors to use works which were
Is the work I'd like to use in
expressly created for the purpose of being marketed and sold as
Yes No my class not a commercial
educational content. Such works may not be used unless permission
educational work?
has been sought from the copyright holder and royalties paid.
1. a performance of a non-dramatic literary work (may use all)
This can be taken to mean the acting, reading, reciting, playing, or
performing of a poem, a novel, a textbook, an article, a short story,
and any other written work that is not a play.
2. a performance of a non-dramatic musical work (may use all)
This can be taken to mean the acting, reading, reciting, playing, or
performing of a musical work that is not a stage play.
3. reasonable / limited portion of any other performance work
Does the work I'd like to use
The phrase "reasonable and limited portion" is unclear. The actual
in my class fit under one of
Yes No legislation on the issue says: "In determining what is reasonable and
the following categories?
limited one should take into account both the nature of the market
for that type of work and the pedagogical purposes of the
performance." Thus, this requirement can be taken to mean display
of any performance work in amounts typically applied in a live
classroom.
4. the display of any work in amounts analogous to a live
classroom setting
This means showing portions comparable to the portions that would
be displayed if such a work were used in a face-to-face classroom.
If the work in question was unlawfully obtained (e.g., it was stolen,
Was the work I'd like to use
shoplifted, illegally copied, illegally downloaded from the Internet,
Yes No in my class lawfully
etc.), then that work--regardless of its type--may not be used under
acquired?
the exemptions of the TEACH Act.
Copyright-protected works may not be used under the TEACH Act
unless they are of direct relevance to a particular instructional
Is the work I'd like to use in
lesson. In other words, the work should play an integral role in a
Yes No my class of "material
classroom. (ie: using copyright-protected images simply to "dress
assistance" to my teaching?
up" a course might not be protected. Posting electronic copies for
"supplemental reading" may be prohibited under TEACH.)
 TEACH Act Checklist
(Adapted from North Carolinas State’s and the University of Alaska’s TEACH Act Checklist)
CC-BY-SA, Georgia Highlands College Library

Works used under TEACH must not only be an integral part of a

Is the work I'd like to use in
specific lesson, but they must also be used under the control and
my class a part of a
Yes No supervision of an instructor. That means that if you plan to use a
“systematic mediated
work in your class, then you need to play a direct role in facilitating
instructional activity?”
the use of that work.
Will the work I'd like to use in The phrase "class session" roughly refers to the duration for which a
my class only be made student is "logged on" to an online course. What this means will
Yes No accessible to my students for vary, depending on the design of the course, but usually means that
the “class session” of which works should not be accessible for the entire length of the course.
the work is a part?
Works used under TEACH should not be broadly accessible to
Will the work I'd like to use in
everyone. Instead, their access should be limited to the group of
my class will only be made
students who are formally enrolled in the course. Online course
Yes No accessible to students who
management systems like D2L make this requirement easy to meet
are formally enrolled in my
because such systems often allow for courses to be password-
course?
protected.
Have I posted a notice stating TEACH requires instructors and institutions to let students know if
Yes No that the work is copyright- certain works are copyright-protected and to warn students against
protected? the inappropriate handling of those sources.
TEACH requires that reasonable measures be in place so that works
are not further duplicated and disseminated. Some strategies that
the institution will adopt to fulfill this requirement:
Have I taken reasonable a) "turning off" student access to your course at the end of the
measures to prevent the semester (GHC does this automatically for D2L);
Yes No further retention and b) posting warning notices alerting students that certain works
dissemination of the work in should not be duplicated or passed around;
question? c) password-protecting your course if you don’t use D2L.
In addition, instructors should consider the following:
a) using streaming technology for video and audio content;
b) hiding or deleting content in your course after its use has expires

If you answered “No” to any of the above questions, you may be in violation of the TEACH Act.