On Copyright

Copyright means the right to copy. Owners of copyright are the only ones allowed to copy their works or give permission to others to copy their works. Obtaining permission to copy a work was very difficult until the copyright collective CANCOPY was established to license public access to copyrighted material. Through licenses with individuals and organisations, this agency allows copying for a fee and in turn distributes royalties to the owners of copyright.

The Trent CANCOPY license outlines the circumstances under which Trent students, faculty and staff are allowed to copy works without having to obtain permission. General information is available on the CANCOPY web site.

May I digitize an article for my Learning System course?

If you are the copyright owner, yes.

If you are not the copyright owner you must have permission to digitize the article from the copyright owner. The Trent CANCOPY Agreement covers print materials only. The doctrine of fair dealing for research or private study likely would not extend to digital formats. The Bata Library is currently investigating a CANCOPY license for PECCS (Post-secondary Electronic Course Content Service) which will help us to obtain permission to digitally reproduce works protected by copyright. Like our current CANCOPY license, a PECCS license would eliminate the need to obtain permission from each copyright owner directly.
 

CANADIAN COPYRIGHT INFORMATION

For general information, links to legislation and other useful information, try the Canadian Heritage Copyright site. The Canadian Intellectual Property Office contains a very useful guide as well as copyright circulars. The Copyright Board of Canada site provides links to decisions, legislation and other useful information.

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Trent's copyright librarian is Ken Field.  For questions regarding digital copyright, please contact him at