Copyright: Rights

Students have certain rights to use materials under the Copyright Act.  Students who copy or communicate copyright-protected works should either:

• be satisfied that copying or communicating the works falls within one of the exemptions in the Copyright Act (i.e. Fair Dealing),
• copy materials for which the University Library has negotiated licenses according to the terms of the agreement, or
• obtain the permission of the copyright owner.

The Fair Dealing Exemption

Fair dealing (section 29 of the Copyright Act) allows you to copy a "short excerpt" for the purposes of private study, research, review, criticism, news reporting, education, parody, or satire.  You should always mention the source and the author / creator of the work.

The Fair Dealing Requirements applies to students only to the extent that a student is an employee of the university, i.e. acting as a teaching assistant or instructor.  A student who is not acting as an employee of the university may look to the requirements as a general guideline on how the fair dealing exemption can be applied to his or her copying.

Requesting Permission

To request permission for uses outside of those allowed under University licenses or Fair Dealing, you must contact the copyright owner, which is usually either the creator or the publisher, and request permission to use the work.  In your request, you should state:

• The quantity of work that will be copied (such as the number of pages)
• How the work will be used (such as a photocopy, post on a website, etc.)
• How many copies will be made
• Your deadline (such as the date you intend to make use of the material)

If permission is granted for your use, ensure that you get it in writing (an email is fine) and comply with any requirements as directed by the copyright holder.  Keep the letter/email of permission on file in case you are ever required to provide proof of permission. 

View a Permission Template for inclusion in your thesis here.

The Copyright Librarian is available to help if you have questions or would like more information about copyright.

Works created by students, such as assignments and research, are protected by copyright, just like every other original literary, dramatic, musical and artistic work.  This means that the student's permission is required in order for an instructor or the University to keep a copy or share it with future students.