|
Sources:
Harris, Lesley Ellen. Canadian Copyright Law. Toronto:
McGraw-Hill Ryerson, 2001.
Kornfeld, Judy, and Niina Mitter.
Langara
College Library Copyright Guide .
Vancouver: Langara College Library, 2001.
|
|
OVERVIEW |
|
What is commonly called "Copyright" is a combination of the
Canadian
Copyright Act,
Regulations and contractual agreements (licenses) with copyright
holders, distributors and collectives. Copyright affects the use of
resources of all kinds for teaching and learning.
In Canada, there is no such thing as a blanket educational
exemption from Copyright requirements. It is vitally
important that school district employees understand the scope and
limitations of Copyright legislation and contractual agreements.
Please note: There are serious legal and financial implications
of copyright infringement for both individual employees and the school
district.
This Guide presents the major provisions of the Canadian Copyright
Act and its Regulations. Links to
Internet
resources related to copyright issues provided at the end of this
Guide.
Digital Licensing
This Guide does not attempt to provide comprehensive information
regarding digital licensing. This is an evolving area of law and
commerce, and as such, digital licensing will be examined carefully at
the School Board prior to any licensing activities. Please contact
Ron Shongrunden (770-7700 x6638) with any questions regarding digital
licensing or web content.
|
|
|
COPYRIGHT INFORMATION FOR SPECIFIC FORMATS
(Thanks to Langara College Library for permission to adapt
and reproduce material from their Copyright Guide) |
|
Print Material
|
Videos |
Audio
CDs & Cassettes |
Slides
& Transparencies |
Duplication
Rights for Media |
Taping
off Television or Radio |
|
Print Material |
|
The Canadian Copyright Licensing
Agency (commonly referred to as CANCOPY) is a collective of creators and
publishers that administers the legal rights, and collects and
distributes the money to the appropriate copyright owners. CANCOPY
licenses educational institutions (K through university), businesses and
governments. The License allows legal copying of published printed
material within the negotiated limits of the license. Please
refer to the CANCOPY posters in each school district site or the
CANCOPY
web site for more information.
Blackline masters (reproducibles)
Teacher resource books containing permission statements which limit use to
the individual purchasing teacher cannot be catalogued as library items.
These items are not intended to be used as library resources.
District cataloguers will return these items to the requesting libraries.
The
statement from the Access Copyright website regarding blackline masters is
reproduced below. For more information, please visit the
Access
Copyright website.
Access Copyright Statement:
CIRCULATING MATERIALS
I have acquired a book of blackline masters I
would like to put in the library for circulation to other teachers. May I
do so?
Blackline masters (also referred to as
reproducibles) fall outside the scope of the tariff. It is important to
understand that permission provided directly by the publisher to duplicate
the blackline masters might not be broad enough to permit copying by more
than one teacher in your school. Please see the permission statement
and/or copyright notice on the book or blackline masters. |
|
Videos |
|
How do I know if I can show a video in my
school? |
Videos at the
Instructional Media Centre (IMC) have public performance rights and they
have received either Ministry of Education approval or local approval
for use in our schools. These videos may be shown in schools. Videos
in your school library should also have public performance rights, but
these rights may be limited to your school. Check with your
teacher-librarian regarding public performance rights. Consult
CDAC regarding locally approved
resources. |
|
Can I show a rented or privately purchased
video in my school? |
No. Videos rented or purchased from
retailers are licensed for home use only. Use in public venues is
explicitly prohibited. Schools are public venues. In
Canada, there is no educational exemption allowing rented videos
to be shown in schools.
The only exception
is if your school has purchased a subscription that provides public
performance rights in your school. Please check with your
teacher-librarian or principal. |
|
Can I borrow a video from a public or
post-secondary library and show it in my school? |
No. Public performance rights are
negotiated with individual institutions and are not transferable.
Also, a library may not have negotiated public performance rights for
the videos in their collection. |
|
Can I order videos from American vendors for
use in my school? |
Probably not. Distribution and
performance rights differ in the United States and Canada. Always
ask a vendor to confirm in writing that they have the legal right to
sell you a video with Public Performance Rights in Canada. An
American vendor or copyright holder may not have distribution or Public
Performance rights in Canada. |
|
Can I compile a video using clips from one or
more sources for instructional purposes (or to showcase student work)? |
No. Using clips of other resources in a
compilation is a violation of copyright law. Written permission
must be obtained from all copyright holders before making a compilation
of video clips. |
|
Can I copy a video from IMC to keep in my
classroom. |
No. Duplication and reproduction rights
are not included in the license for videos purchased by IMC. |
|
Audio CDs &
Cassettes |
Audio CDs and cassettes may be
used in an educational institution without an additional Public
Performance License.
They must be legal, commercial copies.
You may not copy an audio-recording, make compilations of clips,
transfer it to another format or upload it to a web site without written
permission. For music recordings, you may have to pay a fee.
Limited exception: Some language cassettes come with permission to make
class sets for lab use or library use.
Non-educational uses of audio-recordings are not covered by these
exceptions. For example: Playing recorded music over the telephone
system to entertain callers on 'Hold' is not an educational use and must
have permission. |
|
Slides &
Transparencies |
Slides and
transparencies are covered by the CANCOPY agreement.
You may make overhead transparencies or slides of images or text from
published works subject to the same restrictions as photocopying, as
described in the CANCOPY agreement.
Important exception: You may make a slide or transparency of a
reproduction of a work of art (such as a painting) only if it is not
commercially available.
Digitization of an image in order to make a slide or transparency
is not covered by the CANCOPY agreement and can only be done with
permission. |
|
Duplication
Rights for Media |
A video, CD,
audiocassette or computer program may not be duplicated without written
permission from the copyright holder.
The payment of a fee may be required.
In a few cases, such as with many language tapes, a limited duplication
right is included when the title is purchased.
When a media format becomes obsolete, such as 3/4" video or reel-to-reel
tape, the content may be transferred to another format provided it is
not commercially available in the new format. In most cases, written
permission is required from the rights holders and a fee may be charged.
Making a compilation of video clips from several other sources is a
violation of copyright and may only be done with written permission from
all the rights holders. |
|
Taping off
Television or Radio |
With certain very
limited exceptions, it is illegal to tape a television or radio
broadcast and use it for any purpose other than private home viewing.
The new Copyright Act grants limited off-air taping rights in the
following cases:
1) News or news commentary program may be taped and retained for
a year, after which royalties must be paid for each public performance
or the tape erased. Documentaries are specifically excluded from this
category and may not be taped under its provisions.
2) Any program may be taped for evaluation or preview purposes and
retained for 30 days. It cannot be used in a classroom and must be
erased after 30 days. |
|
INTERNET RESOURCES |
|
Canadian Copyright on the 'Net |
Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO) |
Copyright Matters! |
