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Sherma Edwards 1
DETT 611 Section, 9040

Sherma Edwards
DETT 611 Section, 9040
February 15, 2015
Copyright Article Review

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DETT 611 Section, 9040

Introduction
Bathon (2013), in his article, Staying on the Right Side of Copyright in Education
discussed copyright legitimation in distance education (DE) institutions today and lists some
preventative means on how to avoid infringement. Since the Copyright Act of 1976 and Fair Use,
over the years, flexibility on copyright laws is on the rise and many educational facilities are
benefiting from this change. For example, the passing of the Technology, Education and
Copyright Harmonization (TEACH) Act of 2002, has provided online teachers and learners with
guidance, protection and exposure to similar lesson plans as those taught in the face-to-face
classrooms. However, teachers are limited to storage and dissemination of copyrighted
materials in the DE environment (Bathon, 2013, p.22). The article written by Jerry Roper (2012),
entitled An Exploration of Copyright Law in Distance Education also addresses some very
similar views as those mentioned in Justin Bathons work, and other experts theory on the
copyright laws in DE. This paper will consist of a summary, a commentary on intellectual
property dimensions and challenges within the DE environment.
Summary
The paper written by Roper (2012) serves as an overview of the copyright laws that exist,
and is intended to help protect educators in DE. He points out that legislator amend laws as
warranted in hope of meeting the targeted populations need and subsequently to avoid conflict
and legal issues. Roper (2012) states, DE administrators should recognize the restrictions of the
copyright laws through awareness and must remain compliant or legal repercussion will occur,
regardless of the technology changes in education. Roper (2012) also provides a historical
background and the benefits of the Copyright Act of 1976. As a result of the worldwide influx in
DE, he also provides reasoning as to why policymakers modified the law.

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Intellectual Property Dimensions and Overview

Despite of the changes made by congress over the years with copyright laws, the issue
with ownership of intellectual property is based primarily on the individuals own perspective,
either the teacher or the institution. Initially, when the 1976 act was created, the government
made no changes to the laws until 1995 when the internet was a popular demand and the
copyright laws only protected the reproduction of materials by educators or librarians and only
covered physical photocopying and visually-perceptible materials (Roper, 2012, p.17). Because
of the vagueness in the previous laws and growth of the internet, another addendum known as
the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) was created in 1998. It was not until 2002, with
the TEACH act concrete policies and procedures covered the electronic distribution of electronic
copyrighted material in DE (Roper, 2012).
Before the first set of revisions were made in 1976 with copyright laws in the earlier
years Roper (2012) states two infringement cases were ruled against teachers with the exception
of DE faculty and staff. However, he notes that the (TEACH) Act does not exempt DE teachers
or administrators from infringement but does offer support to DE institutions and its intellectual
dimensions. Roper (2012) advises DE facilitators to always ask permission from the authors
prior to distributing materials to their students to prevent litigation as those faced by UCLA in
2010 and Georgia State University in 2008 (p. 17).
Challenges
Regardless of the copyright laws and the institutions best intentions, there are still some
challenges DE stakeholders are exposed to, and struggle with when avoiding potential copyright
infringement. This problem mainly occurs if clear or precise explanation on the fair use and
copyright dos and donts are not appropriately addressed. It is suggested as a safeguard to help

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prevent infringement by university officials and leaders to become linked with the open access
community as a means to access scholarly articles online (Roper, 2012, p.18). This will help
eliminate user fees and requests for prior permission; however, academic integrity and proper
citation of the scholars work will be necessary.
Another problem is that DE institutions are continuously expanding and the leaders are
not knowledgeable or equipped to manage, yet resolve copyrighting issues. Higher Education
leaders, such as the directors of the copyrights department, must review or develop new
copyright policies and procedures specifically targeted to meet its institutions needs. For
example, a survey can be conducted to make sure current policy does cover sufficient details to
lever any potential issues the institution may encounter. In addition, the copyright office will
need to have a designated copyright official to handle questions and concerns that occur within
or out of the offices parameters and the scope of justification (Roper, 2012, p.18). Moreover,
if the institution is faced with an infringement, the school may also seek outside legal help to
deal with the problem.
Lastly, instructors should complete an online registration of their revenue-generating
materials and original work since this will help in the future with a better legal position of a
possible lawsuit (Roper, 2012, p.18). In addition, as previously stated, they should also request
permission when using other authors protected work (p.18). In some instances, the authors will
not anticipate a large payment if their work will be used for educational purposes, instead they
may require that they are not paid but acknowledged through citation and recognition. Violators
can face a fee anywhere, between $750- $150, 000 for each infraction as of 2006 and one can
safely assume the penalty has enlarged over the years. Therefore, having a frequently asked
question webpage (FAQ) for employees to refer or an onsite copyright legal consultant can help

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diminish copyright infringement through awareness and staff can also be represented in court as
needed.
Conclusion
Copyright laws in both the traditional and non-traditional school setting have existed for
many years. Change is inevitable especially with the rise of technology in DE. As a result, the
laws were amended from the Copyright Act of 1976 and Fair Use to the TEACH act in an effort
to protect intellectual property. The legal system, however, is still not perfect and can be quite
vague but its the institutions and its stakeholders, responsibility to be aware of the law. Faculty
and staff must become familiar with the fair use of copyright materials.

References

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Bathon, J. (2013). Staying on the right side of copyright in education. The Journal, 40(12), 21.
Retrieved from http://eds.b.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.umuc.edu/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?
sid=bdcd97da-62b0-4007-b301-af5e439eb5a1%40sessionmgr111&vid=9&hid=113
Roper, J. (2012) An exploration of copyright law in distance education. Journal of Applied
Learning Technology, 2(4), 16. Retrieved from
http://eds.a.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.umuc.edu/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=548ecb4abbdd-4f3e-a93f-859c3c499f86%40sessionmgr4002&vid=4&hid=4108