New Fair Dealing Policy Outlines Copyright Changes
Posted: December 21st, 2012As posted on Queen’s News:
Queen’s new policy for using copyrighted works reflects recent amendments to the Copyright Act and Supreme Court of Canada decisions. It will have a major impact on teaching at the university.
The most significant change for Queen’s is that education has been added to fair dealing. Fair dealing is an exception under copyright law that permits the copying of a protected work without payment or permission in certain circumstances. Queen’s University’s Fair Dealing Policy has been updated to reflect this and other changes.
“The policy provides instructors with clear direction for navigating the new copyright landscape in Canada,” says Alan Harrison, Provost and Vice-Principal (Academic). “
The new policy provides guidelines for using handouts and posting scanned materials for students without seeking permission from copyright holders. Instructors can now copy and share with their students a short excerpt from copyrighted material, for example, up to 10 per cent of the work or a chapter, whichever is greater.
Other significant changes include:
- Material publicly available on the Internet can be copied for educational purposes without permission as long as there is no clear notice stating otherwise; the work is not posted illegally; and it is not protected by a digital lock, for example, streaming videos on YouTube
- Videos can now be shown in class without buying public performance rights as long as instructors have a legal copy.
“The changes will have a positive impact on faculties and departments across campus and make it easier for instructors to provide educational material for their students,” says Mark Swartz, Queen’s Copyright Specialist.
The Copyright Advisory Office will continue to offer permission services for material that exceeds the limits of the new policy. After receiving the required information from instructors, the Copyright Advisory Office will request permission from publishers and rights-holders.
Contact the Copyright Advisory Office for more information about the changes to the Copyright Act, or the Fair Dealing Policy and how it might apply to individual courses.
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