New Educational Media Technology

Crews, Kenneth, “Copyright and Distance Education: Making Sense of the TEACH Act,”
Change 35, no. 6 [November/December 2003]: 34-9.

Crews’ article discusses the TEACH Act and its implications for the use of copyrighted materials in distance education. He explains how the Act provides for the transmission or performance of such materials during educational sessions and describes some requirements written into the law which require educational institutions to limit access to these materials.


Starkman, Neal, “Do the (Copy)right Thing,” T.H.E. Journal 35 no. 3 [March 2008] 22, 24-5.

In this article, Starkman urges educators to consider the application and impact of copyright law when using materials in teaching. He cites the work of Carol Simpson, a professor who keeps track of cases relating to the violation of copyright law by teachers. One of his major points is that new technologies tend to complicate the issue; therefore, principals and teachers need to keep informed of the latest changes to the laws.

Ludlow, Barbara and Duff, Michael, “Copyright Law and Content Protection Mechanisms:
Digital Rights Management for Teacher Educators” Teacher Education and Special
Education 30, no. 2 [Spring 2007] 93-102.

The TEACH act requires institutions to implement controls to prevent unauthorized access or duplication of materials which are transmitted during distance learning sessions.
This article explores the utilization of digital rights management in the educational arena, particularly in distance education.

Butler, Rebecca P., “Borrowing Media from Around the World: School Libraries and Copyright
Law,” School Libraries 13 no.2 [July 2007] 73-81

Butler describes the different international copyright agreements to which the United States has agreed, including the World Intellectual Property Organization and the Uruguay Round treaty.

Butler, Rebecca P., “Copyright Law and Organizing the Internet,” Library Trends 52, iss. 2 [Fall
2003] 307-17

In this article, Butler discusses the manner in which copyright law affects the Internet and Internet service providers. She explained that there are provisions in current copyright law to allow libraries to circumvent the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) in order to evaluate works and to reverse engineer encryption software. However, matters can become tricky when examining other issues such as interlibrary loan and online reserves.