TEACH Act Interpretation

["John Farquhar" <John.Farquhar@xxxxxxx>]

Could I receive some insight from this list concerning a particular
interpretation of the TEACH Act?

My institution has decided not to rely on the exemptions provided by the
TEACH Act because we believe that doing so substantially increases
institutional liability for actions performed by our faculty. Our
understanding has been that should we "open the door" to such use, we
would have to implement procedure to police and control all materials
posted by faculty to Blackboard and other central servers. With an
obvious unwillingness to perform such policing, we have decided not
adopt TEACH Act policy and instead tell faculty that their only options
are to get permission or abide by Fair Use.

It appears to me that many universities ARE implementing TEACH Act
policy. Are we being overly cautious, or are there schools that share a
similar concern?

Thanks,

jf

________________________________
John D. Farquhar, Ph.D.
Manager, Instructional Development
Academic Technology & User Services
Western Washington University
Bellingham, WA 98225

(O) 360.650.6538
(F) 360.650.2816
_______________________________