Please direct any questions to library@stfx.ca.
Copyright applies to all original works. This includes including books, articles, films, images, artistic works, graphics, and sound recordings. Copyright also exists in certain “non-traditional” subject matter, such as performers' performances, sound recordings, and broadcast signals, where the clock generally starts from the first performance of the work. Much of the material that you will use in your research and teaching will fall under Canadian copyright protection.
Copyright protection expires, generally 70 years after the death of the creator. After this, the works become part of the public domain.
Ideas and facts that are contained in a work are not covered by copyright. Copyright Law is intended to protect the specific way that facts and ideas are expressed.
For more information: See the Term of Copyright section of the Act.
Insubstantial portions of works are not subject to copyright (by insubstantial, in copyright, we mean really short). For example, a few sentences from a written work like a journal article or a book, or a few seconds from a song, may not be long enough (or substantial enough) to be protected by copyright. This is especially true if it's being used for teaching or research purposes. Determining what is deemed 'substantial' is a matter of degree and context. It includes considerations such as what it is you are copying, how it relates to the original from which it is taken, the amount you plan to copy, and what you wish to do with it.
See Section II C, Insubstantial Portions of Works, of CAUT Guidelines for the Use of Copyrighted Material.
A lot of the electronic material (eg. e-books, articles published online) you will use for teaching and research at StFX will already be licensed for your use. This means that the Library has already purchased and signed licenses for the material with terms that may allow you to use it for educational or research contexts (eg. copying in the classroom).
The StFX Library maintains subscriptions to hundreds e-books, databases, and journals. Often these are bundles of resources that are licensed through consortial agreements with our colleague institutions (eg. CAUL or CARL). For each of these, the Library signs a license that grants certain permissions regarding how we can use the material. Acceptable use is indicated in the terms of each license, and what is allowed will not be uniform across all subscription licenses. For all licensed works, it is necessary to check the terms of the licence to determine whether your use is permitted. See How to Check Copying Restrictions for a Specific Journal, or you may contact your Liaison Librarian.
In addition, an increasing number of works are being made publicly available on terms and conditions that may permit your intended use. For example:
Canada’s Copyright Act contains several user rights, which are also known as “exceptions”. These 'exceptions' allow individuals and educators to make copies of copyright-protected works. Fair dealing is the best-known user right, or “exception”, but there are also specific exceptions for educational institutions. Some of these exceptions are covered within this guide.
In the education context, the Copyright Act provides considerable scope for copying without the necessity of seeking the consent of the rights holder. This has been clarified by several Supreme Court decisions. Consult the Copyright Act for more information and additional exceptions.
This is perhaps the most significant statutory exception. In its 2004 CCH Canadian Ltd. v. Law Society of Upper Canada ruling, the Supreme Court has indicated that Fair Dealing is “always available” to users provided applicable requirements are met.
To fall within this exception two criteria must be addressed:
The Educational Institutions exception makes provision to copy, and in some cases, to telecommunicate material for the purpose of education or training on the premises of the institution, primarily for an audience of students. Additional restrictions may apply in some circumstances.
For a summary of specific uses covered by this exception, see Educational Exceptions.
Individuals in the course of conducting research have additional latitude built into the Copyright Act. Like the research and private study purpose in the Fair Dealing exception, the Reproduction for Private Purposes exception allows copying by individuals for their own use or translating a work into a different format. Additional restrictions such as using a non-infringing copy of the original and not circumventing any digital locks on the original to make the copy are required.
When all other options enabling the reproduction of a work have been exhausted, obtaining permission from the copyright holder is required.
Before initiating a process to obtain permission, determine if there is another way to provide access to the material without having to reproduce it. For example, many resources are available electronically through our library digital collections and can be linked from your course syllabus or embedded within Moodle.
Your Liaison Librarian is available to assist you with obtaining a transactional license for materials to be shared as in-class hand-outs and/or via Moodle. The Campus Store is available to assist you in the production of course packs.
Material that is copied through a transactional license should be marked as such on the circulated copies: 'This work has been copied under license from the copyright owner.'
Please note that sometimes clearance is not granted or cannot be secured in a timely fashion (allow 6 to 8 weeks) and choosing an alternative resource will be required.