This is the fifth and final part in our series of blog posts celebrating Fair Dealing Week 2021 (February 22nd to February 26th, 2021).

by Lachlan MacLeod

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, 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

This is part four in a five-part series of blog posts celebrating Fair Dealing Week 2021 (February 22nd to February 26th, 2021).

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 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. As an 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 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

This is part three in a five-part series of blog posts celebrating Fair Dealing Week 2021 (February 22nd to February 26th, 2021).

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 accommodation 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 the creator’s 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 your class readings fall under fair dealing is to make use of the Dalhousie Libraries Course Reserves Service. By using course reserves, you can help take the guesswork out of applying fair dealing guidelines for every work that  is used as part of class readings, and reduce the cost of material for your students. Course reserves can upload material to Brightspace or create Stable Links to course readings.

Dr. Mike Smit and Dr. Sasha Kondrashov discuss the importance of fair dealing in this video:

For more information on how fair dealing affects Faculty, please take some time to read about 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

 

This is part two in a five-part series of blog posts celebrating Fair Dealing Week 2021 (February 22nd to February 26th, 2021).

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:

dal.ca/content/dam/dalhousie/pdf/library/services/copyright-office/CARL_FD_myths_facts_EN.PDF

This 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.

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

 

This is part one in a five-part series of blog posts celebrating Fair Dealing Week 2021 (February 22nd to February 26th, 2021).

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’re celebrating Fair Dealing Week with daily posts. 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 involves determining 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 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

 

 

by Ann Barrett

Open Education Week (OE Week, March 1–5) is an opportunity for actively sharing and learning about the latest achievements in Open Education worldwide (from openeducationweek.org).

This year there’s much to celebrate as Open Educational Resources (OERs) are taking off at Dalhousie and in the Atlantic region! 

What are OERs? They are any type of educational material that is published under an open licence (e.g. select Creative Commons licenses) or in the public domain and can be used, reused, adapted, shared, and modified. OERs can be textbooks, lecture notes, syllabi, assignments, tests, and more. 

What makes for an OER is determined the ability to engage in the “5 Rs” in the use of the material:  

The 5 Rs of OER is a derivative of the 5 R Permissions of OER by Lumen Learning, licensed under CC BY 4.0. 

So, what’s to celebrate? 

• Dalhousie has launched a new OER this year: Introduction to Psychology and Neuroscience with Dr. Leanne Stevens at the helm.  

• The Dalhousie Libraries and the Centre for Learning & Teaching have announced new OER grants for 2021 to continue to support the growth of OERs at Dalhousie. 

• AtlanticOER (led by CAUL-CBUA) has recently launched its site and grant options.  

Want to know more about OERs? Check out our OER Libguide, contact your subject librarian, or email digital.initiatives@dal.ca. Learn more about OER Week: https://www.openeducationweek.org/.