Contents

1. Getting Copyright Permission
2. The Public Domain and the Creative Commons

Getting Copyright Permission

How do I get permission to use a copyrighted work?

You always have the option of asking the copyright owner for permission to copy a work. If you get permission you do not need to determine whether your copying is otherwise permissible under a licence or the Act.

Step 1: Identify the copyright owner

Usually you’ll be able to identify the owner somewhere on the work by looking for the copyright symbol ©, which should have the copyright owner’s name next to it. You’ll often find this at the beginning of a book, at the side of a photograph or at the bottom of a webpage. 

Both the Canadian Intellectual Property Office and the US Copyright Office maintain databases that include records for copyrights registered with their offices. While not all copyrighted works or owners will be found in these databases, they can be useful in finding contact information for copyright owners or their agents. 

For Canadian works, search the CIPO Copyright Database.

For US works, search the US Copyright Office Records. 

Step 2: Ask for permission

Once you’ve located the owner, simply email, call or write to them, explaining how and why you want to use their work. Many copyright owners will give permission to academic users without requiring payment.

If you want to get permission in writing, there are a variety of sample letters available on the web to get you started.  Here are a few from Canadian Universities: 

• Copyright Permission Letter with Example - Ryerson University

If you need help with the permissions process or if you have any questions, contact Mark Swartz at the Copyright Advisory Office.  

The Public Domain and the Creative Commons

Is everything covered under Copyright?

Not everything. There are a wide variety of works that are in the Public Domain or available through the Creative Commons.

The Public Domain

Works that are not protected because their term of protection has expired (generally fifty years after the death of the author in Canada, no matter where they resided or published their work), or because they were published without intention of claiming copyright, are in the public domain. Works in the public domain can be used by anyone without liability for infringement.

Finding out if a work is in the public domain

The following flowchart was prepared by Creative Commons Canada in 2008 to help in determining if a work is in the public domain.

Canadian Public Domain Flowchart

Creative Commons

The Creative Commons is a non-profit corporation that provides free licences for individuals who want to license their work in a way that allows for the work to be shared, remixed and/or used commercially.

Creative Commons Resources

• Creative Commons About Page
• Creative Commons FAQ
• Creative Commons: what every educator needs to know (presentation)
• Introduction to Creative Commons Library Guide by the University of Northern Carolina Greensborough

Creative Commons Licences are also often used to specify usage rights for works published in Open Access Journals. Open Access is a movement where scholarly journals are published free of charge on the internet. For more information related to Open Access at Queen's, visit the Open Access section of the Library Scholarly Communication page.

Resources for finding public domain and Creative Commons licensed works

• The US Creative Commons website includes a search engine that facilitates searching for works in a wide variety of formats.
• Project Gutenberg is the world's largest collection of copyright-free ebooks online.
• Most major search engines allow you to limit your search to Creative Commons-only content.
  • Google advanced search allows you to specify usage rights in your search. To do this, expand the "Date, usage rights, numeric range and more" section and select "usage rights". This search option is also available in the advanced Google Images search.
  • Flickr Images Search (Check the "Only search within Creative Commons-licensed content" box at the bottom of the page).
• The Research Resources page on the WikiProject Resource Exchange includes a thorough section related to finding both Resources and Images that are in the public domain.

The following links include videos, presentations and resources related to a variety of different formats like videos, images and music:

• An Educators Guide to the Creative Commons: This blog post includes videos, presentations and resources related to the Creative Commons and how to find and use Creative Commons licensed works.
• The Best Places to Get Free Music and Sound Effects
• Royalty Free Music and Images
• 26 Places to Find Free Multimedia for your Blog
• 30 + Places to find Creative Commons Media
• Copyright Friendly (and Copyleft) Images and Sound