Fair dealing guidelines

Fair Dealing Overview

(adapted from: Copyright. Red Deer Polytechnic, 15, Aug. 2023, https://guides.rdpolytech.ca/copyright/fairdealing)

Fair dealing permits the use of a copyright-protected work without having to pay the copyright owner royalties or ask permission. In the Copyright Act, the fair dealing exception allows the use of other people’s copyright-protected works for the following purposes: private study, research, criticism, review, news reporting, satire, education, or parody, providing that the use is considered “fair.”

In order to be considered “fair,” two tests must be passed:

The “dealing” must be for a purpose stated in the Copyright Act. That is, it must be used for private study, research, criticism, review, news reporting, satire, education, or parody. For example, educational use of a copyright-protected work passes the first test.
The dealing must be “fair.” The Supreme Court of Canada, in landmark decisions in 2004 and 2012, provided guidance as to what this test means in schools and post-secondary institutions. See more information about the six factors for determining whether or not the dealing is “fair” below.

This Fair Dealing Policy applies to fair dealing in non-profit universities and provides reasonable safeguards for the owners of copyright-protected works in accordance with the Copyright Act and the Supreme Court decisions.

Full details of the educational exceptions can be viewed in sections 29.4 to 29.9 of the Copyright Act.

“Fair” Dealing – The Second Test

(adapted from: Copyright Open Educational Resource for University Instructors and Staff: Module 5: The Balancing Act: Users Rights, Canadian Association of Research Libraries, open online module, https://www.carl-abrc.ca/influencing-policy/copyright/opencopyrightcourse/module-5/)

These six factors must be considered when determining whether copying is "Fair"

Purpose / goal of your use: What is the real purpose or motivation of the user when reproducing or distributing a work? A non-commercial purpose is more likely to be fair than a commercial, for-profit use.
Character of your use: What do you intend to do with the work? Single, one-off copies are more likely to be fair than multiple, widely distributed copies.
Amount you are using: No more of the work should be used than is reasonably necessary to achieve the purpose of the dealing. Utilizing a small portion of a work tends to be more fair than using a large portion of a work.
Alternatives to the use: Are there any free, openly available alternatives you can use? Your use is more likely to be fair if there were no reasonable alternatives to making the copy. However, the availability of a licence is not a factor in determining whether other alternatives should have been used instead.
Nature of the work being used: Copying works that were intended to be widely shared and are not confidential is more likely to be fair.
Effect on the market for the original work: Will my use have any negative impact on the sale of this work? Copying will tend to be fair if it has no detrimental impact on sales of the original.

Guidelines

In copying or communicating short excerpts from a copyright-protected work under this Fair Dealing Policy, attribution must be clear (e.g., it must mention the source and, if given in the source, the name of the author or creator of the work).

A copy of a short excerpt from a copyright-protected work may be provided or communicated to each student enrolled in a class or course:

as a class handout;
as a posting to Mosaic that is restricted to students of the university;
as part of a course pack

A short excerpt means:

up to 10% of a copyright-protected work (including a literary work, musical score, sound recording, and an audiovisual work);
one chapter from a book;
a single article from a periodical;
an entire artistic work (including a painting, print, photograph, diagram, drawing, map, chart, and plan) from a copyright-protected work containing other artistic works;
an entire newspaper article or page;
an entire single poem or musical score from a copyright-protected work containing other poems or musical scores;
an entire entry from an encyclopedia, annotated bibliography, dictionary or similar reference work provided that in each case, no more of the work is copied than is required in order to achieve the allowable purpose.

Copying or communicating multiple short excerpts from the same copyright-protected work, with the intention of copying or communicating substantially the entire work, is prohibited.

Further questions?

For further clarification on whether or not your usage of a copyrighted work falls into the fair use exceptions as outlined above, email library@auarts.ca.

Items that do not fall under these Fair Dealing Guidelines must be submitted to the library at least 6 weeks prior to term start so that we may request permission for their use.

For common questions about image licensing and copyright, go to Copyright FAQ.

Additional Resources for Fair Dealing

Disclaimer

These guidelines are intended to assist students, staff, and faculty in the proper use of resources that are protected by copyright law in Canada.

Any information obtained from or through this guide are guidelines for using works for educational purposes and is not intended to constitute legal advice.