Can a teacher photocopy material from a textbook?

Answer 1

There is an exception in current US copyright law ("fair use") that allows for the use, without permission, of copyrighted material for certain purposes (scholarship, criticism, review, news reporting, etc).

However US Copyright Law also sets out criteria that has to be considered before something can be judged to be "fair use"

# The purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes
# The nature of the copyrighted work
# The amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole
# The effect of the use upon the potential market for, or value of, the copyrighted work

Answer 2

Yes, a teacher can photocopy material from a textbook for educational purposes under the doctrine of fair use. However, there are limits to the amount that can be copied, typically no more than 10% of the total work. It's important to ensure that proper citation is provided to the original source.