Due to the forecast, the Killam Library and the Kellogg Library Learning Commons (CHEB) will close at 10 pm. The Wallace McCain Learning Commons will close at 9:45 pm. Apologies for the inconvenience. Stay safe, everyone!
Fair Dealing Week 2019 – Fair Dealing and Students
This is part four in a five-part series of blog posts celebrating Fair Dealing Week (February 25th to March 1st, 2019).
by Lachlan MacLeod
The copyright landscape in Canada has undergone significant changes recently. To ensure a fair and reasonable approach to the use of copyright protected materials on campus, Dalhousie has sought to balance the rights of users with those of creators. To help accomplish this, the university has established a Copyright Office and has most recently adopted updated Fair Dealing Guidelines.
As students of Dalhousie University, you may copy materials for which the university (e.g. the Dal Libraries) has negotiated licenses, according to the terms of the individual license agreements. In addition to license agreements, fair dealing allows you to make use of a work for yourself for the purposes of private study, research, criticism or review, news reporting, education, and parody or satire. For example, you can copy one article from a journal, or one chapter from a book for the purpose of your studies and research.
Without fair dealing, any time you wished to make use of a copyrighted work in your course, you would need permission from the copyright holder, perhaps even paying a licensing fee. This short presentation illustrates uses that we might take for granted and would not be legal without fair dealing:
For more information on how fair dealing affects Students, please take some time to read about Fair Dealing for Students, and consult our Fair Dealing Guidelines. Please feel free to contact the Copyright Office with any questions or comments at copyright.office@dal.ca
RESOLVED: EZ-Proxy and Software.dal.ca are down
UPDATE: This issue was resolved at approximately 6 p.m. this evening (Feb. 27).
EZ-Proxy and Software.dal.ca are down.
We are actively working on solving the issue and we’ll provide updates as we have new information. We apologize for the inconvenience.
Fair Dealing Week 2019 – Faculty and Fair Dealing
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
Fair Dealing Week 2019 – Beyond Fair Dealing
This is the fifth and final part in our series of blog posts celebrating Fair Dealing Week (February 25th to March 1st, 2019).
Fair dealing is only one exception from the Copyright Act, but it receives a lot of attention. There are numerous other exceptions and resources that overlap and supplement fair dealing allowances in an educational setting.
One exception is Section 30.04(1) of the Copyright Act that provides for an exception from copyright infringement for copying, communicating and performing in public by an educational institution or a person acting under its authority for educational or training purposes of a copyright protected work that is available through the Internet. However, this use is subject to several important restrictions. To find out more about the educational exception for works available through the Internet, visit our website: https://libraries.dal.ca/services/copyright-office/for-faculty/using-materials-from-the-internet.html
Under Section 29.5 of the Copyright Act, films may be shown by faculty and staff to students, without permission of or compensation to copyright owners, provided the screening takes place on the premises of an educational institution, the recording is a legally acquired copy, used in pursuit of education to an audience consisting mainly of students with no admission being charged. There is no longer the need to ensure a public performance license is in place if these conditions are met. Works may be performed live (such as a play) without permission under these conditions as well. For more information on showing films in a classroom setting, please visit the following section of the Copyright Office website: https://libraries.dal.ca/services/copyright-office/for-faculty/showing-films-on-campus.html
These exceptions and others are explained in detail on the Copyright Office website. Please note that all of these exceptions are subject to specific restrictions and guidelines. When in doubt, contact the Copyright Office with any questions or comments at copyright.office@dal.ca
Fair Dealing Week 2019 – Fair Dealing: Myths and Facts
This is part two in a five-part series of blog posts celebrating Fair Dealing Week (February 25th to March 1st, 2019).
by Lachlan MacLeod
Fair dealing can be daunting, and there is a lot of confusion and misinformation about what fair dealing means. To clarify this confusion, the Canadian Association of Research Libraries (CARL) has created an infographic exploring some of the myths and facts surrounding fair dealing. The. infographic provides some of the context and history for fair dealing and clarifies some common misconceptions. It also shows how fair dealing functions in academic environments like Dalhousie University. dal.ca/content/dam/dalhousie/pdf/library/services/copyright-office/CARL_FD_myths_facts_EN.PDF
For more information about fair dealing, you can read all about fair dealing on the Dalhousie Libraries’ Copyright Office’s Fair Dealing Basics page, and consult our Fair Dealing Guidelines. Please feel free to contact the Copyright Office with any questions or comments at copyright.office@dal.ca
Fair Dealing Week 2019 – What is Fair Dealing?
This is part one in a five-part series of blog posts celebrating Fair Dealing Week (February 25th to March 1st, 2019).
by Lachlan MacLeod
Fair Dealing Week (Fair Use Week in the United States) is the Association of Research Libraries (ARL)’s annual celebration of fair dealing. This week we celebrate Fair Dealing Week by providing five blog posts released throughout the week on the topic of fair dealing. These posts will outline why fair dealing is important, what fair dealing means to instructors, and how fair dealing applies to students.
Fair dealing is a right in the Copyright Act (Section 29) which allows the copying and communicating of copyrighted works without permission from or payment to the copyright holder. The Supreme Court of Canada has established a two-part, six-factor test for determining fair dealing:
1. Step One: Determine if your use of a copyrighted work is covered by any of the purposes enumerated in the Copyright Act: research, private study, criticism, news reporting, education, parody, or satire.
2. Step Two: If your use does fall under one of these purposes, then you can proceed to applying each of the six factors the Court identified. These six factors are: Purpose (different from the purpose in the first step), Character, Amount, Alternatives, Nature, and Effect.
If your use of a copyrighted work passes both of these steps, it can be deemed fair dealing. To clarify the determination of fair dealing, Dalhousie has developed a set of Fair Dealing Guidelines, in cooperation with the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada. These guidelines apply to all members of the Dalhousie University community – faculty, staff and students.
For more information, you can read all about fair dealing on the Dalhousie Libraries’ Copyright Office’s Fair Dealing Basics page, and consult our Fair Dealing guidelines. Please feel free to contact the Copyright Office with any questions or comments at copyright.office@dal.ca
Donna Bourne-Tyson Receives the Ken Haycock Award
Donna Bourne-Tyson, University Librarian of Dalhousie, has won the prestigious Ken Haycock Award for Promoting Librarianship from the Canadian Federation of Library Associations, presented at the OLA Superconference in Toronto on January 30. Donna received this award for her significant contributions to the field of librarianship, to which many of her colleagues at Dal can attest.
Sincerest congratulations to you Donna, from all of your Dal Libraries colleagues. See below what the Canadian Association of Research Libraries (CARL), the nominating institution, had to say:
February 4, 2019 – The Canadian Association of Research Libraries (CARL) would like to congratulate current CARL President, Donna Bourne-Tyson, on receiving the Ken Haycock Award on January 30th at the OLA Superconference in Toronto. This award is conferred to an individual who has made significant contributions to the public recognition and appreciation of librarianship through professional performance, teaching, and/or writing.
Ms. Bourne-Tyson was honoured with this award for her firm commitment to personal membership in professional associations and her remarkable range of Board roles in regional, national and international association and consortia, and for founding and shepherding multiple new organizations.
“Donna believes and lives a philosophy that working together is much more effective than solo or siloed action. Through her collaborative view of the library world, Donna has brought together people, institutions, and even associations to effect consortial action. And through this, she has had long-reaching impact. Donna has quietly and pragmatically helped shape the library association landscape in this country,” said Paul Takala, Chief Librarian, Hamilton Public Library, during the award ceremony.
CARL is pleased to have nominated Ms. Bourne-Tyson for the award, in recognition of her association engagement and her leadership and dedication as an ambassador and role model for librarianship. The award includes a $1,000 reward, which Ms. Bourne-Tyson has graciously donated to the Canadian Federation of Library Associations.
Public Domain Day 2019
January 1st was Public Domain Day, when copyrights expire and creative works enter the public domain in the US. A few notable works that entered the US public domain this year include “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” by Robert Frost and The Ten Commandments by Cecil B. DeMille (1926 version).
In addition to works with expired copyright, public domain also refers to works that are so old as to have been created before copyright laws or those works for which the author has declared them to be in the public domain immediately. Although there are exceptions, in Canada published works enter the public domain 50 years after the death of the author. At that point permissions are no longer required for reproduction or distribution. In the US, the current term is 70 years after the death of the author, but public domain laws are country-specific. A work that is in the public domain in Canada may not be in the public domain in the US, and vice-versa.
Another exception is when a work has new material added. For example, although the copyright in Shakespeare’s plays expired long ago, many of the published editions of his plays contain added original materials (such as footnotes, prefaces etc.) which are copyright protected because the authors have used skill and judgment in creating the new material. This creates a new copyright in the added original material, but not in the underlying text of the original work in which the copyright had expired.
You can’t assume everything you find on the internet is in the public domain just because it is publicly available. Most of the material you find online is protected by copyright; however, you may be able to use it for educational purposes according to the fair dealing provisions in the Copyright Act or under the exception for educational use of material publicly available through the Internet (Section 30.04(1) of the Copyright Act).
A common misconception is that works in the public domain do not require citations or attribution. Rules governing plagiarism and academic integrity still apply to works in the public domain.
Currently, trade negotiations with the US indicate the term for creative works entering the public domain in Canada will soon be extended to 70 years, to align with the US public domain term. If this happens, numerous works could be removed from the Canadian public domain, creating a myriad of issues for creators, artists, audiences, and organizations using, cataloguing, and benefitting from these works.
For more information on determining if material is in the public domain, consult this University of Alberta Public Domain Flowchart or the detailed section of the Dalhousie Copyright Office website.
Additional resources:
Collection of Public Domain works (Canada): http://gutenberg.ca/index.html
Public Domain films: https://archive.org/details/feature_films
Fair Dealing Week: Fair Dealing & Students
This is the fourth and final entry in our series of blog posts recognizing Fair Dealing Week 2018 (February 26–March 2, 2018).
The copyright landscape in Canada has undergone significant changes recently. To ensure a fair and reasonable approach to the use of copyright protected materials on campus, Dalhousie has sought to balance the rights of users with those of creators. To help accomplish this, the university has established a Copyright Office and has most recently adopted updated Fair Dealing Guidelines.
As students of Dalhousie University, you may copy materials for which the university (e.g. the Library) has negotiated licenses, according to the terms of the individual license agreements. In addition to license agreements, fair dealing allows you to make use of a work for yourself for the purposes of private study, research, criticism or review, news reporting, education, parody or satire.
For example, this means you can copy one article from a journal, or one chapter from a book for the purpose of your studies and research. Without fair dealing, any time you wished to make use of a copyrighted work in your course, you would need permission from the copyright holder, perhaps even paying a licensing fee. This short presentation illustrates how many basic use of works that we might take for granted would not be legal without fair dealing:
For more information on how fair dealing affects Students, you can read Fair Dealing for Students, and consult our Fair Dealing Guidelines. Contact the Copyright Office with any questions or comments at copyright.office@dal.ca