Reformatting Books for Disabled Students: Copyright Implications

The world of copyright is riddled with exceptions, especially as pertains to educational settings. Teachers, librarians, and other school professionals like occupational and speech therapists frequently rely on exceptions to copyright law in order to meet the print accessibility needs of disabled students. Copyright exceptions include the “fair use” exception, as well as exceptions contained in two relatively recent amendments to copyright law: the TEACH Act and the Chafee Amendment. School professionals must proceed with caution, however, where copyrighted materials are involved. There is no blanket exception for the use of copyrighted materials in educational settings and school professionals cannot always justify their use of copyrighted works even if their use of such works allows them to teach or treat students more effectively.

School professionals working with disabled students need to be cautious when using copyrighted materials without the permission of the copyright owner, particularly if their use includes reproducing copyrighted materials in a non-print format. It is not unusual for school professionals to reproduce copyrighted books for visually impaired or learning disabled students in Powerpoint or other electronic formats. No matter how well intended these professionals are, however, reproducing books in this fashion without express permission of the copyright owner may result in copyright infringement, which is a violation of the law and exposes both the professional and his or her school to liability.