Division of Instructional Innovation and Assessment
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When creating media files that will be published for download, there are a few legal issues you must take into consideration.
Most external materials you use in your lectures are probably protected by copyright. Copyright law gives educators some rights to use others’ works in the classroom and in online education, but does not authorize every instance of reproduction and distribution that podcasting and vodcasting would enable. When can you rely on fair use and when would you need to get the copyright owner’s permission? See Fair Use of Copyrighted Materials to learn more. (Information provided by Georgia Harper, UT System, Office of General Counsel)
Additionally, you may want to consider how the materials you publish will be used. Simply by creating a work, your material is copyrighted. However, there are many levels of copyright you may want to establish for your works. See the Creative Commons website to learn more.
FERPA protects student records and rights. Before including student names or likenesses (voices and/or faces) you must receive their permission. See the UT Registrar's FERPA website for more information.
Note: The above considerations are for podcasting only. Because of the graphical nature of vodcasting or “video on demand,” fair use and FERPA guidelines are stricter.