Student Guidelines for Copying

Single Print Copies

Copy if:

• The work is in public domain.
• It is a federal statute or statute of Ontario.
• It is a judicial decision; for example, Supreme Court of Canada decisions.
• The work is the instructor's personal notes or class presentation.
• There is a written notice permitting copying.
• The copy or copies are 10% of the original OR the copy or copies are an entire:
• Newspaper or periodical article.
• Short story, play, poem, essay, conference proceedings or article from book.
• Print music from magazine, journal or a book.
• Entry from encyclopedia, dictionary, reference book.
• Reproduction of artistic work from periodical, journal or book.
• Chapter from book if no more than 20% of book.

Be careful when copying:

• Works excluded from the college license with Access Copyright, but which you may copy under Fair Dealing.
• Original artistic works (i.e. not a reproduction).
• Trade mark or a logo.
• Works available as a separate publication; for example, pamphlets.
• Works on the Access Copyright Exclusions List.
• Government publications.
• Consumables such as published workbooks, tests, examination papers.
• Instruction manuals or teachers' guides.
• Print music such as scores published for use by choirs, bands and orchestras.
• Letters to the editor or advertisement in newspapers, magazines or periodicals.
• Business cases which are available for purchase.
• Newsletters restricted to a fee-paying clientele or which contains commercially valuable information.
• Works appearing in a publication which contains a notice prohibiting copying under a license from a reproduction rights organization such as Access Copyright.

Multiple Print Copies

Copy if:

• The work is in public domain.
• It is a federal statute or statute of Ontario.
• It is a judicial decision; for example, Supreme Court of Canada decisions.
• The work is the instructor's personal notes or class presentation.
• There is a written notice permitting copying.
• The copy or copies are 10% of the original OR the copy or copies are an entire:
• Newspaper or periodical article.
• Short story, play, poem, essay, conference proceedings or article from book.
• Print music from magazine, journal or a book.
• Entry from encyclopedia, dictionary, reference book.
• Reproduction of artistic work from periodical, journal or book.
• Chapter from book if no more than 20% of book.

Make sure to include on at least one page of each item copied:

• The international copyright symbol: ©
• A credit to the publisher.
• Crecit to the author(s), artist(s) or illustrator(s) of any artistic work copied, where known.
• The following notice: "This material has been copied under license from Access Copyright. Resale or further copying of this material is strictly prohibited."

You need permission to make multiple copies if the work is:

• Unpublished ie. it does not contain an ISBN.
• An original artistic work.
• Students' work. As creator of the work, the student is automatically the copyright owner. A student consent form is available on the college web site.
• Available as a separate publication such as pamphlets.
• 10% or more of work has already been copied during the school year (July 1 - June 30) for the same class or group.
• On the Access Copyright Exclusions List.
• A government publication.
• A consumable such as published workbooks, tests, examination papers.
• An instruction manual or teachers' guide.
• Print music such as a score published for use by choirs, bands and orchestras.
• A letter to the editor or advertisement in newspapers, magazines or periodicals.
• Business cases which are available for purchase.
• Newsletters restricted to a fee-paying clientele or which contains commercially valuable information.
• Appears in a publication which contains a notice prohibiting copying under a license from a reproduction rights organization such as Access Copyright.
• An article from Library subscription database. Most database licenses do not allow for multiple copies. As an alternative, ask students to find and print the article(s) themselves.

Print Music (Scores)

The college agreement with Access Copyright allows for the copying of "an entire single item of print music from a book or periodical issue containing other kinds of work." For example, you may make class copies of a song set to musical notation from the Rolling Stone magazine because the magazine contains "other kinds of works" such as photographs, biographical pieces, reviews, and articles. The college agreement with Access Copyright excludes multiple copying of print music from scores published for use by choirs, bands and orchestras. However, you may make a single copy under the Fair Dealing exception of the Copyright Act. You must seek permission from the copyright owner to make multiple class copies.

Copying Sound Recordings

On March 19, 1998, the Copyright Act was amended to permit the private copying of sound recordings. To compensate performers, musicians and recording companies for royalties lost to private copying a levy was introduced on all blank recording media.

Private copying is the making of single copies of musical works, performer's performances and sound recording onto a blank recording medium, such as a CD or cassette for personal use. An example is borrowing a CD or a cassette and making a second copy for yourself so you don't have to buy one. The proceeds from the levy on the blank media are distributed to copyright owners through associations or collectives to compensate them for the free copying.

The present legislation does not specify where you get the original copy from - you could borrow it from your friend, the library or download it from the Internet. Consequently, music downloading is not illegal in Canada. However, the downloading of music is a contentious issue due to the proliferation and speed with which it can be accomplished. Also, many people download music directly onto their hard drive, a "recording medium" on which there is no levy. This area of law is under review in Canada and around the world. For security reasons music downloading is not possible on the MacEwan College network from peer-to-peer file sharing sites.

Copying Audiovisual Materials

The Grant MacEwan College's agreement with Access Copyright excludes the copying of audiovisual material. However, for the purpose of private study or research students may make a single copy under the Fair Dealing legislation to incorporate, alter or adapt as required in fulfillment of course assignments.

Digital Copying

Burning a CD, typing text into a Microsoft Word document, or scanning an image into a computer are all examples of copying something into digital format or digitizing.

Digitize if:

• The work is in public domain (no restrictions on copyright)
• The work is a federal statute, statute of Ontario or a judicial decision (no restriction on copyright)
• There is a written notice permitting digitization. Be respectful of any included restrictions; for example, the work may not be altered in any way.

For all other material you must observe the Fair Dealing legislation of the Copyright Act which permits making a single copy for the purpose of private study or research.

Fair Dealing does not allow you to post something on the Internet. When you post something on a website, you are not only making a digital copy of the work, but also making the work available to others. Only the creator of the work has the right to distribute a work electronically or otherwise.

Showing Audiovisual Material in Class

Most audiovisual material in the Library collection is purchased with public performance rights, which means you may show the video in a classroom. Occasionally the Library cannot obtain these rights, in which case the video will be clearly marked as being for individual or in Library use only.

Audiovisual Materials on Interlibrary Loan
If the Library obtains a video for you through interlibrary loan, the video in most cases will not be licensed for use in class.

Borrowed, Rented or Purchased Audiovisual Materials Videos or DVDs rented from a local store, or those purchased for personal use are intended for home use only. You need to obtain public performance rights to show the video in class. Videos or DVDs borrowed from the public library also usually do not have public performance or classroom use rights, and are intended for home use only.

Showing a Small Part of a Work The Copyright Act protects entire works or substantial parts thereof. An "insubstantial" part of any work is beyond the control of the copyright owner.¹ The Act does not define or provide guidelines for what is considered "substantial" or "insubstantial." However, common sense dictates that showing 1 - 2 % of the audiovisual material would be considered an insubstantial or small part of the work.

It should be noted that when examining copyright infringement, courts look at the quantity, as well as the quality of the infringed work. In her book, Copyright Guide for Canadian Libraries, Wanda Noel illustrates the point with the line, "Frankly my dear, I don't give a damn," from Gone with the Wind (42). The line is instantly recognizable, and many would argue, an essential part of the movie. Publicly showing this small but significant clip of the movie would likely constitute copyright infringement.

It is OK to show an "insignificant" video or DVD snippet in the classroom.

¹Lesley Ellen Harris, Canadian Copyright Law (Toronto: McGraw-Hill Ryerson, 2001) 109.

Using Material Found on the Internet

Content on any website is copyrightable. Even if no formal copyright notice appears on a site, copyright applies. However, students you may copy material found on the Internet under the Fair Dealing legislation of the Copyright Act. Fair Dealing involves making a single copy for the purpose of private study or research.

Check here for public domain resources on the web.