The University Copyright Center Aids Distance Educators

The University Copyright Center is a unique service that the University Libraries’ Dean’s Office provides for intellectual property education, information and concerns at Ball State. It is a copyright service that not only assists Ball State University faculty, staff and students, but also is a service that both instate and out-of-state interested parties have used as an intellectual property resource.

One of the many resources that the Copyright Center offers is a way for faculty to take advantage of the Technology, Education, and Copyright Harmonization Act [T.E.A.C.H.]. T.E.A.C.H. pertains to the legal transmission of performances and displays of copyrighted materials. The T.E.A.C.H. Act, like anything Congress does, is loaded with requirements and conditions. These involve administrative, technical, and educator compliance. Ball State University complies with or assures both the administrative and technology requirements, but those of the educator must be guaranteed by the instructor of the class. The Copyright Center developed and provides the Compliance with the T.E.A.C.H. Act Clearance Form that allows our faculty to easily comply with the “mediated instructional activities” exemption as defined by T.E.A.C.H. The Center’s Clearance Form redacts the complicated requirements into a faculty-friendly tool in order to comply with the Copyright Law:
www.bsu.edu/libraries/viewpage.aspx?src=./collections/copyright/complianceform.htmlBrigham Young University is now using an adapted version of the Center’s T.E.A.C.H. Act Clearance Form for their distance education program. Speaking of the Clearance Form, Carl Johnson, Director, Copyright Licensing Office at Brigham Young University, has stated that the Center’s “…approach and design greatly simplifies and streamlines what can be for some, a very complicated and confusing process.”

The Ball State University Copyright Center continues to expand its national recognition.