Running head: AN EXPLORATION OF COPYRIGHT LAW IN DISTANCE EDUC

An Exploration of Copyright Law in Distance Education:

Copyright Article Review
Kay L. Venteicher
University of Maryland University College
DETT 611
February 15, 2015

AN EXPLORATION OF COPYRIGHT LAW IN DISTANCE EDUCAT

An Exploration of Copyright Law in Distance Education:

Copyright Article Review
The distance education environment provides new challenges for both educators and
students navigating the sometimes blurred or imprecise boundaries regarding copyright
infringement and law. Changes in technology provide various options beyond the structured
brick and mortar classroom environment opening up happenstance to copyright law offense(s)
and/or possible follow-on litigation. The Technology, Education, and Copyright Harmonization
Act or TEACH Act of 2002 provides guidance targeted to the distance education community
defining the fair use of digitized materials (Roper, 2012, p. 17). Future trends in distance
education lend themselves to ongoing change and development of needed materials further
complicating matters with intellectual property rights and copyright scenarios. This sets the
stage to necessitate ongoing support and education to both educators and students providing
guidance promoting a clear understanding of this topic to prevent complications with copyright
law.
Historical Background of Copyright Laws
The original copyright laws passed in early the 18th century and later in United States
history did not address constraints on time and fair use of intellectual property. Nemire (2007)
states that these early copyright laws offered protection to the intellectual property which
included books, maps, and charts (p. 26). The Copyright Act of 1976 provided for a
mandatory renewal process and the use of the copyright symbol. The renewal process provided
for an additional 14-year period, which could be renewed and continued from the initial 14-year
copyright period. In addition, Roper (2012) explains a new section provided a definition of fair
use which provided protection of work that without prior consent of public distribution or

AN EXPLORATION OF COPYRIGHT LAW IN DISTANCE EDUCAT

display is reproduced, copied, or closely imitated (p. 16). Later changes included the
Copyright Term Extension Act of 1998, which provides for copyright protection through the
authors death and provides for a renewal option to extend the protection for an additional 70 and
95-year extensions for corporations (Roper, 2012, p. 16).
Distance Education and Copyright Laws
The advent of distance education prompted court review and government updates to
copyright law due to changing dynamics. Intellectual property, which in education can equate to
items like the syllabi, books, notes, and presentations developed for a course also came into
question with the introduction of the internet in 1995. Ownership of these types of intellectual
property may be defined in the employees agreements or contracts. The increasing popularity
of the internet and its use in distance education necessitated creation of these materials in a new
format (Roper, 2012, p. 17).
Previous copyright laws addressed the traditional brick and mortar classroom that again
required updating to include new guidelines for electronic use of copyrighted materials bringing
about the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, or DMCA, in 1998. Shuler (2003) provides that the
Millennium Act erased ambiguity in the interpretation of what was fair and unfair use of
electronic copying and distribution (p. 50). While this addressed internet piracy and visually
perceptible materials, it was not until the TEACH Act provided clarification of the meaning of
digital material fair use that this type of material was covered by copyright laws. Roper (2012)
explains the exemptions provided for Distance Education under the TEACH Act still require
originator permission prior to reproduction and/or distribution and further prohibits extensive

AN EXPLORATION OF COPYRIGHT LAW IN DISTANCE EDUCAT

distribution of vast amounts (beyond fair use quantities) of copyrighted materials to

institution/school or educator websites of copyrighted materials (pp. 17-18).
University and Educator Approach
There are safeguard options that can preclude potential copyright infringement. Access
to scholarly work can be achieved through educators and institution leaders aligning with open
access online communities (Roper, 2012, p. 18). Users must provide proper citation of materials
but require no permissions or fees from the author. Courant (2008) promotes this through the
transformation and eventual access to academic library materials changed into digital form (p.
208). An example Courant (2006) provides is global shared access of a papyrus collection in the
University of Michigan Library holdings (para. 51).
Implementing roles or positions that provide oversight of copyright issues can benefit
from planning and policy development at the institution/school. These positions would benefit
from an employee who is an attorney. Registering of original works by owners and requesting
permission for use by educators diminish the possibility of future violations. Finally, instituting
clearly defined policy for media use in traditional and distance education programs offers
educators and students a metric to use as a guide when using digital media (Roper, 2012, pp. 1819). Promotion of an environment with defined policies on copyright law compliance, Lipinski
(2003) states will minimize unintentional and uninformed infringement (p. 367).
Conclusion
While the TEACH Act provides exceptions for education in the electronic use of
copyright materials, no mistake should be made that this constitutes a get out of jail free pass.
Roper (2012) advocates for ensuring that fair use of digitized materials in distance education

AN EXPLORATION OF COPYRIGHT LAW IN DISTANCE EDUCAT

requires institutions, educators, and students clear understanding of the policies put into play to
prevent unintentional or uninformed copyright infringement (p. 19). Policy should also include
defining intellectual property rights as well. Providing this foundation of knowledge provides a
level of protection to all with regard to copyright law and intellectual property in the distance
education community.

AN EXPLORATION OF COPYRIGHT LAW IN DISTANCE EDUCAT

References
Courant, P. (2006, August 7). Scholarship and academic libraries (and their kin) in the world of
Google. First Monday. 11(8). Retrieved from
http://firstmonday.org/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view/1382/1300
Courant, P. (2008). Scholarship: The wave of the future in the digital age. In R. N. Katz (Ed.).
The tower and the cloud: Higher education in the age of cloud computing. (pp. 202-211).
Retrieved from https://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/PUB7202t.pdf
Lipinski, T. A. (2003). The climate of distance education in the 21st century: Understanding and
surviving the changes brought by the TEACH (technology, education, and copyright
harmonization) act of 2002. Journal of Academic Librarianship, 29(6), 362-374.
Nemire, R. E. (2007). Intellectual property development and use for distance education courses:
A review of law, organizations, and resources for faculty. College Teaching, 55(1), 2630.
Roper, J. (2012). An exploration of copyright law in distance education. Journal of Applied
Learning Technology, 2(4), 16-20.
Schuler, J. A. (2003). Distance education, copyrights rights, and the new TEACH act. Journal of
Academic Librarianship, 29(1), 49.