If you are making copies of copyrighted works for the purposes of research, private study, criticism or review at Queen’s University without getting permission from the copyright holder, use these guidelines to ensure copyright compliance. Copying includes photocopying, scanning, printing a digital copy, transmitting by email and fax, projecting an image using a computer or other device, and posting or uploading a digital copy to the internet. 

These guidelines are taken from the Copyright at Queen's Policy (Schedule A).  

A poster version is also available: Before you Copy: Fair Dealing Copying Guidelines (PDF). 

Contents

1. Works that you can copy without permission.
2. Works that you can copy for purposes of research, private study, criticism or review (the Fair Dealing Exemption). 
3. A Fair-Dealing consulation.

1. Works that you can copy without permission

 It is lawful to copy copyrighted works without permission or payment in the following circumstances:

• Material in the Public Domain – Works in which the term of copyright has expired can be copied without permission or payment.  This means the works of creators who have been dead for more than 50 years, no matter where they resided or published their work. 
• Insubstantial Portions – Copying an insubstantial amount of a work is not a violation of the Copyright Act and does not trigger the requirement of permission or payment.  What will constitute a substantial part of a work is assessed from a quantitative and qualitative point of view. Regardless of the quantity of the work copied, if that part is distinctive, valuable or an essential part of the work, the copying will infringe the owner’s copyright. Examples of insubstantial use include selected sentences, paragraphs, verses or choruses from an article, book, poem or song and short clips from a film or television production.
• Works with Implicit or Explicit Consent to Copy – Material specifically presented for public use – including Open Access publications, works placed in Institutional Repositories and works covered by Creative Commons Licenses – may typically be copied with minimal restrictions.  When copying material posted on the Internet, a user should check what use rights the copyright owner permits.  
  
• Licensed Material – Queen’s purchases licences from content providers which allows the use of digital material, which may include saving and copying the licensed works.  Library staff can indicate if particular content is part of the licensed collection and what use can be made of it. 
• Accessibility – Copying for the purpose of making a work accessible to a person who could  not otherwise access it because of a disability is not a violation of the copyright Act, provided the work is not commercially available in the required form, such as a large print book – section 32 (see Library Services for Students with Disabilities). 

2. Works that you can copy for purposes of research, private study, criticism or review (the Fair Dealing Exemption) 

The Fair Dealing exemption under the Copyright Act allows you to copy works without getting permission from the copyright holder under the following conditions: 

• Copying must be for the purpose of research, private study, criticism or review.
• Copying for instructional purposes generally falls outside the fair dealing exemption at this time (see Copyright and Teaching). 
• You can only make a single copy of any published work. Multiple copies of works and the distribution of copied works is less likely to be fair under fair dealing.

The amount you can copy depends on the type of material you are copying. The categories of materials listed in the Copyright at Queen's Policy are the following: 

• Textbooks produced primarily for the post secondary market
• Other published works (other than textbooks produced primarily for the post-secondary market)
• Works where copying is not permitted

If you have any questions about Fair Dealing and these copying guidelines, you may want to schedule a consultation with our Copyright Specialist. 

A Textbook produced for the post-secondary education market

You can copy:

A maximum of 5 percent of a published textbook produced for the post-secondary education market or the following (whichever is greater):

1. An entire chapter from a textbook provided that it does not exceed 10 percent of the textbook.
2. An entire short story, play, poem or essay from a textbook provided that it does not exceed 10 percent of the textbook.
3. An entire reproduction of an artistic work or a single musical score from a textbook provided that it does not exceed 10 percent of the textbook.

A Published Work (other than a textbook produced for the post-secondary education market)

You can copy:

A maximum of 10 percent of a published work or the following (whichever is greater):

1. An entire chapter from a book provided that it does not exceed 20 percent of the book.
2. An entire article from a periodical publication. A periodical publication can be defined as any work that is published in regular intervals. Common examples of periodical publications are newspapers, magazines or academic journals.
3. An entire short story, play or poem from a periodical publication.
4. An entire entry from an encyclopedia, dictionary, annotated bibliography or similar reference book.
5. An entire reproduction of an artistic work from a book or periodical publication.
6. A single musical score from a book or period publication.

No copies can be made of the following:

1. Any of the following where the publication containing the work does not contain other works: articles, short stories, plays, poems, artistic works (including reproductions), and musical scores. For example, no copy may be made of a play from a publication containing the play but no other work.
2. Proprietary workbooks, work cards, assignment sheets, tests, examination papers and instruction manuals.
3. Newsletters with restricted circulation intended to be restricted to a fee paying clientele.
4. Business cases that are made available for purchase.

3. A Fair Dealing Consultation

If you have any questions about these Fair Dealing copying guidelines, please contact the Copyright Advisory Office. Our Copyright Specialist (Mark Swartz) will assist you with a copyright consultation based on the following criteria: 

1. the purpose of the proposed copying, including whether it is for research, private study, review, criticism or news reporting; 
2. the character of the proposed copying, including whether it involves single or multiple copies, and whether the copy is destroyed after it is used for its specific intended purpose; 
3. the amount or proportion of the work which is proposed to be copied and the importance of that work; 
4. alternatives to copying the work, including whether there is a non-copyrighted equivalent available; 
5. the nature of the work, including whether it is published or unpublished; and 
6. the effect of the copying on the work, including whether the copy will compete with the commercial market of the original work.  

If it is determined that the copying would fall outside of fair dealing, options and alternatives to copying would be suggested.