This is part three in a five-part series of blog posts celebrating Fair Dealing Week (February 25th to March 1st, 2019).

by Lachlan MacLeod

Fair dealing is a powerful tool for using copyrighted works in the classroom. It allows instructors to use photos and videos in class lectures, reduce the cost of materials for students, and facilitate access and accommodations for students. Faculty can also benefit from fair dealing in the context of research, allowing academics to build upon existing research, and facilitating access to scholarly works.

Fair dealing is available in the contexts of education and research, but it is important to remember that copyright in Canada is a balance between users’ rights on one hand and creators’ rights on the other. So, while instructors can engage in copying for their classes, it must be done in a fair and ethical manner.

One of the best resources to make sure class readings fall under fair dealing is to make use of the Dalhousie Libraries Course Reserves Service. By using the course reserves service, the Libraries take the guesswork out of applying fair dealing guidelines for every work used as part of class readings. And the cost of materials for students is reduced. Through the course reserves service, materials can be uploaded to Brightspace or Stable Links will be created for course readings.

Dalhousie professor Dr. Mike Smit discusses the importance of fair dealing in this video:

For more information on how fair dealing affects faculty, please read Fair Dealing for Faculty and consult our Fair Dealing Guidelines. Please feel free to contact the Copyright Office with any questions or comments at copyright.office@dal.ca