Exceptions - When can copyrighted materials be used?
If a work is protected under copyright laws it can generally only be used with the owner's permission and the user will be required to pay a fee, called a royalty. Canadian copyright law does create certain exceptions as follows.
Where Old Copyrights Go To Die
If a work is in public domain it can be used by anyone. In this case the owners' permission is not required and no fees have to be paid. There are a number of reasons why a work can be considered in the public domain. Copyright generally only exists for the life of the creator plus 50 years. After this period, the work is in the public domain, meaning that people are free to use and reproduce the work. As well, sometimes the owner of a copyright will give permission to the public to use the work for certain purposes. This effectively places the work in the public domain for the stated purposes.
Fair Dealing
When you do research for a school assignment you learn about your topic by reading what other people have written. When you go to write your report or paper you may decide you want to quote something that you read, word-for-word. When a critic is reviewing a book he/she may want to reproduce a few passages from the book. Sometimes part of an original work may be included in a news broadcast. The law allows people to use copyrighted works in this way. This is called fair dealing. There is no rule about how much of a work can be copied without permission. This is something that could be decided by a court if a creator thinks someone has unlawfully copied his/her work.
Educational Institutions
Educational institutions can use copyrighted materials in ways that would be considered infringement if they were done by the general public. All publicly funded elementary and high schools in Canada, except in Quebec, are covered by a general license with CANCOPY.
CANCOPY is a non-profit organization established by artists, writers and publishers to administer copying rights. It was established to simplify the process of getting permission and paying royalties. When a licence is purchased from CANCOPY it gives teachers and students limited rights to copy published print-works without getting permission from the authors or paying fees directly to the authors.
In most cases teachers and students can only copy up to 10% of the work. However, and entire chapter, if it is less than 20% of the book, a single story or poem from a collection, and entire newspaper article or page and an entry from a reference work can be copied.
Some things cannot be copied under this license. If schools can purchase the material in class sets (for example work cards or assignment sheets) of the material is designed to be used only one (for example a workbook) then schools cannot legally copy this material.
Schools are also allowed to perform plays and music as well as play sound recordings, televisions and radios in schools for educational purposes. They are also allowed to copy news programs and show them for up to one year.
What if None of the Exceptions Apply?
The Copyright Office is a federal agency responsible for registering copyrights in Canada. Copyright owners do not have to register with the office but many choose to do so. The records of the Copyright Office are open to the public. A person who wants to use copyrighted material can search the records to find out how to contact the copyright holder for permission and payment. As well, information about how to contact the author or publish is often included in the work itself.
Using copyrighted material can be expensive. For example a video purchased for personal viewing in your home might cost you $20 at a local video store. To purchase the right to show the same video in public could cost $350 or more. The costs are usually calculated per use of the material. This means that fees must be paid for any additional uses even if fees have already been paid for one use.
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Examples of Infringement
- reprinting an article without the copyright owner's permission
- playing CDs at a dance without the copyright owners' permission
- giving a public performance of a play without permission
- taping your favourite band at a music concert without permission
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NOT Infringement
- quoting a few lines of the article in a research paper
- playing records at home
- giving a public performance of a play by Shakespeare (because it is public domain)
- borrowing a musical CD from a friend to copy onto a blank CD for private use. (a royalty payment to the owner of the song rights has been paid when the blank CD was purchased.)