Copying and Scanning at UBC

FOR CURRENT INFORMATION, VISIT THE UBC COPYRIGHT WEBSITE:  COPYRIGHT.UBC.CA

Historical Information (last updated March 2011)

Copying Right: A guide to copyright, fair dealing and collective licensing

This guide was prepared by the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada (AUCC) and the Canadian Association of Research Libraries (CARL) and reflects the provisions of the Copyright Act and associated regulations in force as of September 1, 2001, and was revised December 6, 2010

• Copyright on campus
• What is Canada’s copyright law?
• What is fair dealing?
• What if I need to copy more than fair dealing allows?
• What is the Access Copyright license?
• How does the license work?
• What is covered?
• Copyright cues
• Copyright and Scanning
• Copyright and the Internet
• Licensed e-journals and databases
• Copyright Flow Chart

Copyright on campus

Every day across Canada, university professors, staff and students make thousands of photocopies. Books, journal articles, speeches, sections from plays – they’re all being copied. The copies help students learn, assist professors in their teaching and research, and facilitate the smooth running of the university.

But is that copy you’re making legal? The answer lies in the rules in the Copyright Act and in the license UBC has signed with the copyright collective now called Access Copyright, The Canadian Copyright Licensing Agency (formerly CANCOPY).

This guide will lead you through the law and license so that you can be sure you are copying right.

What is Canada’s copyright law?

Canada’s Copyright Act, originally enacted in 1924, is complex, and is subject to periodic revision. But one thing is clear: it is an increasingly important law for Canada’s universities. Ignorance of the law will not protect you against charges of copyright infringement, the consequences of which can be serious, with civil or even criminal prosecution possible.

Copyright law protects a variety of creations, including such diverse items as inter-office memos, books, computer programs, databases, sculptures, songs, films, even a drawing scribbled on the back of an envelope. It gives copyright owners – usually authors or publishers – the sole right to copy or to authorize someone else to copy their works. Moreover, copyright law is international. If a work is protected in any one of over 100 countries, it’s protected by copyright here.

There are, however, a number of important legal exceptions to this right of creators to control the reproduction of their own works. One important exception is called “fair dealing.” Fair dealing balances the rights of copyright owners with the needs of users, such as students and researchers, who require access to copyright material to pursue their studies. For universities, with their mission of creating and passing on knowledge through teaching, research and scholarship, understanding the copyright law and being able to apply the concept of fair dealing is fundamentally important.

What is fair dealing?

The Copyright Act provides that dealing with any material protected by copyright for the purposes of private study, research, criticism, review or news reporting is not an infringement of copyright. Fair dealing with a work does not require the permission of the copyright owner or the payment of royalties.

Although well-recognized in Canada and abroad, fair dealing has never been clearly defined in Canadian legislation, and the courts have tried to interpret what it means. As a result, while fair dealing exists, there is a lot of disagreement over what it includes.

In deciding whether copying is fair dealing, the courts have determined that the relevant factors to be considered include the length of the excerpts used, the relative importance and quality of the excerpts used, and whether a copy is made for academic or commercial purposes. Fair dealing usually involves copying only a reasonable portion of a work.

The issue of fair dealing was discussed by the Supreme Court of Canada in what is commonly called the CCH case: CCH Canadian Limited v Law Society of Upper Canada, 2004 SCC 13, [2004] 1 SCR 339. For background on this decision, see Wikipedia entry.

The Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada (AUCC) recommends adoption, effective January 1, 2011, of the Fair Dealing Policy, which was prepared by legal counsel for AUCC, along with an FAQ on the Fair Dealing Policy.

Fair dealing applies to photocopying as well as other methods of reproduction – including the making of slides, microfiche, or transparencies as well as to faxes and other methods of electronic transmission.

What if I need to copy more than fair dealing allows?

In the past, when students, faculty and staff wanted to make copies that didn’t fall under fair dealing, they were required to contact individual copyright holders and obtain permission. That process was often onerous and time-consuming. Many individuals didn’t even know where to start.

The Copyright Act permits the formation of copyright collectives in Canada. Collectives represent groups of copyright owners for the purpose of collecting copyright payments on their behalf and authorizing the use of their works. Collectives also offer “blanket licenses” that allow for the use of a broad range of material without seeking individual permission.

For published works, two collectives are now in existence in Canada, offering licenses to cover copying of published material, usually books or articles, by photocopying, facsimile, or similar methods of copying. Universities in Quebec operate under a license with a Quebec-based collective known as COPIBEC. In the rest of Canada, most universities have signed licenses with a collective now known as Access Copyright, The Canadian Copyright Licensing Agency (formerly CANCOPY). UBC has signed a license with Access Copyright. This license does not permit digital reproduction by or for students or professors.

What is the Access Copyright license?

The license UBC has signed with Access Copyright allows professors, students, and staff at UBC to make copies other than those allowed under fair dealing. For example, professors can make multiple copies of a periodical article, enough for every student in the class. Librarians can make multiple copies of a work to put on reserve. Copies can be made for administrative purposes. And multiple copies can be produced by the university bookstore for inclusion in student course packs.

There are still limits to the proportion of a work that can be copied. For example, the license generally limits copying to either 10 percent of a work for personal use (or 15 percent if the copies are to be sold), or the whole of a chapter which is 20 percent or less of a book, a short story, poem, or journal article from a book or periodical issue containing other works, or a newspaper article, whichever is greater.

The license makes it a lot easier for students, professors and administrators to get on with their work and not have to worry whether or not a copy is legal, every time they press that start button on the photocopier. In fact, armed with the license and the fair dealing provision in the copyright law, you should be able to copy most of the material you need in the course of your day-to-day activities.

Please note that UBC is currently operating under the Access Copyright Postsecondary Education Institution Interim Tariff.  For more information on the relationship between the previous Access Copyright agreement and the Interim Tariff, visit:  Proposed Access Copyright Tariff.

How does the license work?

UBC, on behalf of students, faculty and staff, pays an annual fee to Access Copyright to cover a variety of copying, including the copying at self-serve copiers in libraries and at other locations, and copies made at photocopiers in various departments. No record-keeping is required, as long as the copies are not sold.

The university has also agreed that, when photocopied material is sold, for example, when the bookstore or university print shop produces course packs and sells them to students, records will be kept and Access Copyright will be paid a pre-set amount (currently 10 cents) for each page copied to cover royalty payments to the copyright owner.

The Access Copyright license doesn’t cover all works. Certain whole categories of works, for example, unpublished works and sheet music, are not covered by the license. In addition, some authors and publishers have specifically excluded some or all of their works from coverage under the license. There is a list called an exclusions list, attached to the license and available through your library, which sets out these excluded items. So if the copying you want to do does not fit into the fair dealing guidelines (for example, you want to make 30 copies for distribution in today’s biology class), you need to do a quick check of this list to be sure the license covers the work involved. In most cases, it will. But if not, you need to get permission from the copyright owner directly or through Access Copyright.

Be familiar with the license before you copy.

What is covered?

Taken together, copyright legislation and the Access Copyright license allow the following:

• fair dealing with respect to any work for the purposes of research, private study, criticism, or review;
• copying works in the public domain (copyright protection normally ends fifty years after the death of the author of a work);
• copying the text of federal and Ontario laws, statutes and judicial decisions;
• copying no more than 10 percent of a work for personal use (or 15 percent if the copies are to be sold); or the following, whichever is greater:
• an entire newspaper article, short story, play, poem, essay or article from a book or periodical issue; an entire entry from an encyclopedia, dictionary, annotated bibliography, or similar work; or an entire chapter which is less than 20 percent of a book.

What is not covered?

Some copying activities in universities are not covered by the concept of fair dealing or the license. These include:

• copying an entire book;
• repeated, systematic and cumulative copying from the same published work – copying that would eventually result in a substantial part of that work being copied;
• copying published sheet music or workbooks; or
• copying of unpublished works, such as private letters, diaries, or class notes.

Copyright cues

Here are some more tips that can help guide you further through the often perplexing world of copyright:

• Check your dates. Generally, copyright protection lasts for 50 years following the death of the creator. After that, works are in the public domain and can be copied freely.
• Don’t copy letters to the editor or newspaper advertisements without permission. And remember, the individual who wrote the letter or prepared the ad owns the copyright, not the newspaper.
• Don’t change a work in any way while copying – for example, by editing or changing the phrasing. Creators retain the moral rights to the integrity of their own work, and that means you can’t make changes to suit your needs.
• With regard to government publications, anyone can copy federal laws and judicial decisions without charge, and without asking permission, provided the copy is accurate and it is not represented as an official version. This also applies to statutes, regulations and judicial decisions of the Province of Ontario. The British Columbia government allows you to reproduce specific acts or regulations, for personal or legal use. At this time, copying other provincial or territorial laws or judicial decisions requires the permission of the appropriate government.

Copyright and Scanning

Scanning is not covered under the Access Copyright agreement, and can infringe copyright. See UBC’s scanning guidelines for further information.

Copyright and the Internet

Much of the material on the Internet is protected by copyright. This includes postings to news groups, e-mail messages, images, photographs, music, video clips and computer software. The general rule is that you must get permission from the owner (usually the person or organization that created the material) to use text, graphics, images, sound and video that have been created by others. There are some things that are not usually protected by copyright – for example, facts, information, titles, ideas, plots, and short word combinations; neither are works in the public domain. The license that UBC has with Access Copyright does not cover works in electronic form.

The use of copyright materials from the Internet is an area of law that is currently under study in Canada and around the world, and possible changes to the law are under active consideration. The universities and research libraries of Canada are active participants in these discussions.

Licensed e-journals and databases

UBC Library has negotiated license agreements with publishers of electronic journals and databases it has purchased. Each resource is governed by the terms of a specific license, and UBC Library has created a licensing resource to help you understand what you can and cannot do with each of the electronic journals and other electronic materials.

Copyright Flow Chart