Advocacy
Congress Passes TEACH Act
A critical distance-education legislation, the Technology Education and Copyright Harmonization (TEACH) Act, has now passed both houses of Congress as an amendment to the Justice Department reauthorization bill (H.R. 5512). President Bush is expected to sign H.R. 5512 soon, and the TEACH Act will go into effect immediately.As reported in the September 2002 issue of CAA News, this legislation will make it easier for accredited nonprofit educational institutions to use copyrighted material for instruction without securing a copyright holder’s specific permission. The TEACH Act will allow distance-education providers to show portions of movies, plays, and dramatic works and transmit nondramatic literary and musical works digitally. The law, however, is complex and details numerous responsibilities that must be met before educational institutions can benefit from the exemptions.