Copyright Basics: Face-to-Face Instruction Exception

Face-to-face instruction typically takes place in a traditional classroom, where the instructor and the students of a nonprofit educational institution are engaged in teaching and learning at the same time. In this setting all performances and displays of a copyrighted work are allowed for instructional purposes.

Requirements:

1. All materials must be legally acquired.
2. Teaching activities must take place in a classroom or a similar place devoted to instruction.
3. Teaching and learning must be going on simultaneously.

Copyrighted materials used in face-to-face instruction include:

• Music
• Printed Text
• Visual Images
• Film and Video

If the use falls outside the classroom experience, and does not fit the definitiion of virtual instruction, then the Fair Use Analysis should be applied. Permission is required if the use is not fair use and the education exceptions do not apply.

(Adapted, with permission, from the website of the Purdue University Copyright Office)