What is copyright?  |  AACC Policy guidelines  |  Fair Use  |  Copyright Links 
Copyright and Distance Learning | AACC Copyright Contacts
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Copyright law pertaining to the  educational use of copyrighted works considers the needs of instructors in traditional, face-to-face classroom settings.  The Digital Millenium Copyright Act of 1998 directed the U.S. Copyright Office to propose revisions that addressed technological innovations in distance education, particularly Web-based delivery of information and asynchronous learning opportunities. The U.S. Copyright Office issued its recommendations in May of 1999 as the U.S. Copyright Office Report on Distance Education.

The Technology Education and Copyright Harmonization, or TEACH Act, updates copyright for distance education.  Among the benefits of the TEACH Act for distance education are an expansion of the scope of materials that may be used in distance education; the ability to deliver content to students outside the classroom; the opportunity to retain archival copies of course materials on servers; and the authority to convert some works from analog to digital formats.

 The Conference on Fair Use (CONFU) has adopted a set of guidelines (CONFU Guidelines for Distance Learning) for applying fair use criteria to distance education, as have other individuals and organizations, in order to address current issues raised by the distance education community.

Web Links to Distance Education Resources:

Distance Learning and ADA accomodation strategies 
University of Washington guidelines

Guidelines and Information on the TEACH Act 
American Library Association

TEACH Toolkit 
North Carolina State University Libraries

Title 17, U.S.C., Section 110

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