Trent University respects the rights of creators and owners of copyright-protected materials and the rights of users to make certain uses of copyright-protected materials.
Use of copyright-protected materials by Trent University students, staff and faculty must comply with the Canadian Copyright Act and Trent University's Use of Copyrighted Material Guidelines.
Trent University's guidelines are based on the Fair Dealing Policy for Universities developed by Universities Canada.
If you have any questions about copyright and fair dealing, please email the Library's copyright team at copyright@trentu.ca. Disclaimer: The Library's copyright team provide information and do not provide legal advice.
Fair Dealing Guidelines
Fair Dealing is the end user's right, in certain situations, to copy a short excerpt from a copyright-protected work without permission from or payment to the copyright owner. This is an exception in Canada's Copyright Act to read more about Canada's fair dealing see s.29, of Canada Copyright Act.
However the Copyright Act does not define fairness. Fair dealing is context-specific and depends on the facts of each case.
To qualify, the dealing must be for an allowable purpose set out in s.29 of Canada Copyright Act:
- Research
- Private Study
- Education
- Parody & Satire
- Criticism & Review
- News Reporting
Additionally, six fair dealing criteria are considered in assessing fairness are purpose, character, amount, alternatives available, nature, and effect.
Fairness: The 6 Factor Test
The Copyright Act does not define fairness. Fair dealing is context-specific and depends on the facts of each case. Six factors to be considered in assessing fairness are:
- Purpose of the Dealing: Is the copying done for an allowable purpose as defined in s.29, including research, private study, education, parody, satire, criticism & review, news reporting?
- Character of the Dealing: Does the copying involve single or multiple copies? How are copies distributed and to whom? How is access to the copied material controlled?
- Amount of the Dealing: What proportion of the work is copied, and how important is the excerpt in relation to the entire work? Is the copying substantial or can it be considered a short excerpt?
- Alternatives to the Dealing: Is there a non-copyrighted equivalent available? Is the dealing reasonably necessary to achieve the purpose?
- Nature of the Work: Is the work published or unpublished? Is the work in question confidential?
- Effect of the Dealing on the Work: Is the dealing likely to compete with the market for the original work? Is the dealing likely to have a negative impact on the market for the original work?
Short Excerpts
A short excerpt means:
- 10% or less of a work, or
- No more than:
- One chapter of a book;
- A single article from a periodical;
- An entire artistic work, including a painting, print, photograph, diagram, drawing, map, chart or plan from a work containing other artistic works;
- An entire newspaper article or page from a newspaper;
- An entire single poem or musical score from a work containing other poems or musical scores;
- an entire entry from an encyclopedia, annotated bibliography, dictionary or similar reference work.
You may not make copies of multiple short excerpts from the same work when the combined amount exceeds what can be considered a Short Excerpt as defined above. Copying or communicating multiple short excerpts from the same copyrightÂ-protected work, with the intention of copying or communicating substantially the entire work, is prohibited.
A single copy of a short excerpt from a copyrighted work may be provided or communicated to each student registered in a course:
- as a class handout; or
- as a posting in Blackboard.
Any fee charged by Trent for copying a short excerpt must not exceed the costs of making the copy. Fair dealing does not substitute for purchasing of course materials.
Copyright Information for Teaching
Canada Copyright Act has educational use exceptions that you should be aware about in Canada Copyright Act s.29.4 pertaining to reproduction for instruction and reproduction for examinations.
Copying materials for your classes are allowed when:
- licensed materials for Trent University are licensed for classroom purposes
- permitted by a Creative Commons (CC) license
- material is in the Public Domain
- permitted through Open Access (OA) or an Open Educational Resource (OER)
When you see a Trent University licensed material through Omni please check the License Terms of Use
You can always provide a link to a resource that Trent University Library & Archives (TULA) owns to your class. Please note that TULA's collection does change and to check back. You can also have TULA create a Reading List.
Trent University Library & Archives' Copyright Services
Trent University Library & Archives' copyright team is here to help.
We can:
- provide a customized workshop upon request
- create a Course Reading List that goes through a copyright assessment
- answer your copyright questions
Just email the copyright team at copyright@trentu.ca.
Disclaimer: The copyright team provides information and does not provide legal advice.