The Technology, Education and Copyright Harmonization (TEACH) Act of 2001 was an effort to considerably broaden the use of copyrighted video for delivery in instructional settings without the need to purchase additional licensing from the owner of the copyright. Prior to this legislation, teachers who wished to use videos, copy them to servers and use them as part of their instructional practices faced intricate copyright issues often requiring blanket purchases of licensing from copyright clearinghouses. But with the advent of the TEACH Act of 2001, many of these restrictions were reduced. I've included some links to authoritative sources on just what this act means to educators, but here is the summarized gist of it:
The district must have a copyrights policy in place (see EGAD in our Board Policies). Teachers need to make sure students know who owns the materials and that students get instruction at some point about what copyright means and not to infringe on intellectual property. The use of such video must be in a mediated instructional setting, which is to say a classroom or other setting where a teacher is supervising and interacting with the students using the video. Copies of video can be made and saved on district servers so long as the district can assure that digital copies do not leave the possession of the district. Lastly, instructional videos whose market is the classroom are not included in this free fair use rule for copyrights.
This legislation does not permit schools from showing a video for a fund-raiser or as a public event. Such performances require proper copyright licensing.
Here's the detail if you are interested
American Library Association
NC State University TEACH Toolkit
The TEACH Act of 2001