Copyright

Copyright Contact : Jessica Zhang ext: 5069, email: copyright@algonquincollege.com

Details About Copyright

Faculty Resources

What is Copyright?

Copyright means the right to copy. The copyright owner has the sole right to produce, reproduce or alter the work in any substantial part therein. Under the Canadian Copyright Act copying materials without permission is illegal.

Copyright Update

Algonquin College has abided by the Copyright Act of Canada. The Copyright Act outlines the rights of copyright holders and the exemptions around "fair dealing" i.e. students, faculty, staff.  "Fair Dealing" is an exception that allows copying for research, private study, criticism or news reporting and review that applies to users.

The Access Copyright for Post-Secondary Educational Institutions agreement was due to expire on December 31st, 2010. On December 23rd, 2010 the Copyright Board of Canada issued an Interim Tariff, effective January 1st, 2011. This was amended April 7th 2011.

What is Fair Dealing?

Fair dealing is a user’s right in the Copyright Act which permits the use of copyright material without permission or payment of royalties provided the "dealing," or use, is for one of the five purposes of research, private study, criticism, review, and news reporting set out in the fair dealing section of the Copyright Act and provided the "dealing" is "fair". A 2004 decision of the Supreme Court of Canada established six factors that allow individuals and institutions to evaluate whether a dealing is fair. Algonquin College has adopted the Fair Dealing Policy recommended by the Association of Canadian Community Colleges (ACCC).

What is Access Copyright and the Access Copyright license?

For complete information see the Access Copyright website. http://www.accesscopyright.ca/. Access Copyright, the Canadian Copyright Licensing Agency, is a collective of copyright owners, and has the ability to authorize the use of printed published copyrighted works within certain parameters. Algonquin College has signed an Agreement with Access Copyright and now pays an annual fee to cover a variety of copying done at the College. The fees are passed on to copyright owners in the form of royalty payments. Because the Access Copyright license grants permission to copy published print materials within certain limits, it should make it easier for students, faculty and administrators to get their work done.

The License

  • Has limitations and does not cover everything.
  • Distinguishes between “incidental” copying and copying “for sale”.
  • Does not cover Digital material. (See below)
  • Does not cover anything on the Exclusions List. (See below)
  • Does not cover Audio Visual material. (See below)

Incidental Copies

Incidental copying is defined as spontaneous, last minute copies not compiled in any way. Library Reserves and Inter-Library loans come under this category. You may make “incidental” copies for class distribution within the following guidelines: The printed material must not be included in the Access Copyright exclusion list.

Copyright Law requires a note to be placed on the copied material and must include

  • The international copyright symbol:©.
  • The name of the author and publisher.
  • A notice, which reads, “This material is copied under license from Access Copyright. Resale or further copying of this material is strictly prohibited.” on each copy

AND - You may copy 10% of a published work or one of the following, whichever is greater.

  • An entire newspaper article or page.
  • An entire chapter, if it is not more than 20% of the book.
  • An entire single short story, play, poem, essay or article, from a book or periodical issue, containing other works.
  • An entire entry from an encyclopaedia, dictionary or similar reference book.
  • An entire reproduction of an artistic work from a book or periodical issue, containing other works. (Artistic works include drawings, sculptures, paintings, prints, architectural works of art or works of artistic craftsmanship)

Copying For Sale - Course Packs

Using the Access Copyright license does not replace buying educational materials, consequently the license has limits that must be adhered to.

Only the Algonquin Publishing Centre is authorized to generate course packs and only the Algonquin College First Class Book Store is authorized to sell them.

What can be included in a course-pack?

  • Up to 20% of a publication or the following, whichever is greater:
  • An entire newspaper article or page.
  • An entire single short story, play, poem, essay or article from a book or periodical issue (including a set of conference proceedings) containing other works.
  • An entire entry from an encyclopedia, dictionary, annotated biography or similar reference work.
  • An entire reproduction of an artistic work (including drawing, sculpture, painting, prints, architectural works of art or works of artistic craftsmanship) from a book or periodical issue containing other works
  • The license requires a note to be placed on every extract of copied material and should include;
    • The international copyright symbol ©.
    • The name of the author and publisher.
    • A notice that reads, “This material is copied under license from Access Copyright. Resale or further copying of this material is strictly prohibited”

Fees

Fees are charged on a per page, per student basis. The Algonquin College Publishing Centre will keep track of all copies made, and the Bookstore will keep track of all copies sold. Only copies which have been sold must pay the per page royalty fee. Course packs not sold must be destroyed.

What You Can't Copy UnderThe License

Anything from the Exclusions List, and excluded categories, including but not limited to;

  • Individual publishers and authors works named on the Exclusions List. The list is updated bi-annually.
  • Unpublished works.
  • Any materials intended for one time use, such as workbooks.
  • Newsletters.
  • Originals of artistic works (including photographs and prints).
  • Sheet music.
  • Business case studies.
  • Letters to the editor.
  • Works in which copyright is held outside of Canada and not named as covered in the license Agreement.

Digital Works are not covered by the Access Copyright license

Canadian Copyright Law applies to digital works in the same way as print material. In order to use digital material copyright, permission must be obtained and may involve a fee. A rule of thumb when considering copying digital material is to use the same guidelines as traditional formats. The same applies if you wish to copy material from a website.

For further details please see the Canadian Heritage Department guidelines.
http://www.pch.gc.ca/index-eng.cfm or contact the Learning Resource Centre at copyright@algonquincollege.com.

Audio Visual materials are not covered by the Access Copyright license

The Access Copyright license does not cover Audio Visual material, consequently Algonquin College must get permission to copy such materials.

For further details on AV copyright please see the following websites:

The Audio Video Licensing Agency (AVLA) - www.avla.ca
Canadian Music Reproduction Rights Agency (CMRAA) - www.cmrra.ca
Society of Composers, Authors & Publishers (SOCAN) - www.socan.ca

Digital Options

The Interim Tariff offers institutions the option to licence digital copies. Algonquin College, as with most other Canadian Colleges and Universities elected not to participate in the interim tariff's digital copies option. Reasons for this include; there are currently no cost structure associated with digital rights, the digital rights option gives Access Copyright access to Algonquin's network and the opportunity to monitor our course management system, there is also uncertainty on how much Access Copyright repertoire extends to digital rights.

As this evolves, the Learning Resource Centre will continue to update members of the college community with any new developments.

Useful Websites

Sources used in the creation of the document

Harris, Lesley Ellen
Canadian Copyright Law : the indispensable guide for publishers, web professionals, writers, artists, teachers, librarians, archivists, curators, lawyers and business people / Lesley Ellen Harris : Toronto ; McGraw-Hill.Hill, c2001.

For more information on Copyright at Alonquin College, please contact Library Technician, Jessica Zhang (copyright@algonquincollege.com) at ext. 5069.