Educators are applauding the passage of a bill that will allow teachers to use digitized portions of copyrighted materials—such as film, sound, and other media clips—in online courses and other distance-education programs without the expressed permission of the copyright holder. But a provision that requires schools to use technology to keep these materials from being copied has some school leaders worried.

The Technology, Education, and Copyright Harmonization (TEACH) Act, which brings a 26-year-old copyright law into the digital age, was first introduced in March 2001. Although it enjoyed bipartisan support, it was tabled last year so Congress could take care of more pressing business, including the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

To expedite its passage this year, the TEACH Act was attached as an amendment to the Department of Justice appropriations bill (H.R. 2215). Congress passed this bill Oct. 3 and President Bush is expected to sign it into law, after which the TEACH Act will go into effect immediately.

The legislation updates the Copyright Act of 1976 and accounts for advancements in digital transmission technologies that support distance education.

The current fair-use rules for distance education, as outlined the 1976 law, only allow copy-righted materials to be transmitted one way over an analog technology, such as television. The 1976 law does not allow copyrighted materials to be shared through two-way transmissions or those involving digital technologies, such as satellite broadcasts, two-way videoconferencing, and internet-based courses.

The new measure:

• Eliminates the current requirement that the instruction must occur in a physical classroom or that special circumstances must prevent the attendance of students in the classroom;

• Permits temporary copies of copyrighted materials to be stored on networked file servers so this material can be transmitted over the internet; and

• Allows educators to show limited portions of dramatic literary and musical works, audiovisual works, and sound recordings, in addition to complete versions of non-dramatic literary and musical works, which currently are exempted.

"It's not perfect, but it is certainly something that updates parts of the Copyright Act that haven't been updated since 1976," Nesbitt said.

While the TEACH Act improves upon the old law, it requires school districts to create or update copyright policies and implement technology that prevents students from copying and distributing material.