As a UNB student, you are solely responsible for the copying, communicating, and otherwise including copyrighted materials in your work. The university is not liable for any infringing copies you make using the equipment, such as computers, scanners, and photocopiers, provided by the university.
The fair dealing provisions of the Canadian Copyright Act and recent decisions of the Supreme Court of Canada allow you, under specific circumstances, to reproduce without permission or payment short excerpts (perceived as a substantial amount) of copyright-protected works.
For a more detailed discussion of the circumstances and factors in the assessment of fair dealing see the Universities Canada Fair Dealing Guidelines and our Fair Dealing page.
Examples of short excerpts from Universities Canada Fair Dealing Guidelines include:
- 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
Feel free to contact copyright@unb.ca with more specific questions.
Graduate Students
For information on how to use copyrighted material in your thesis/dissertation and other publications, see Best Practices in Copyright: A Guide for Graduate Students.
FAQs
Can I copy any materials for educational purposes without permission?
No. There are limitations to what can be copied without permission for educational purposes. The Fair Dealing clause limits permission-free copying for purposes of research, private study, criticism, review, news reporting, education, satire or parody to only certain portions of copyrighted works. For more information and common examples see our Fair Dealing page. The Educational Exceptions in the Copyright Act also limit the purpose and the place of permission-free copying to class presentations and copying for examinations or tests.
Yes. While Library Course Reserves and D2L is a content management system that delivers access to copyrighted content to students registered in a given course, it is possible to share this content if it passes the Fair Dealing test (sharing for further educational or research purposes). It is against the UNB copyright policy to share copied course-content in an open environment such as a website.
Can I scan an article that I found in the library's journal print collection?
Yes. The Universities Canada Fair Dealing Guidelines give examples of the following short excerpts that can be copied for educational purposes:
- (a) up to 10% of a copyright-protected work (including a literary work, musical score, sound recording, and an audiovisual work)
- (b) one chapter from a book
- (c) a single article from a periodical
- (d) an entire artistic work (including a painting, print, photograph, diagram, drawing, map, chart, and plan) from a copyright-protected work containing other artistic works
- (e) an entire newspaper article or page
- (f) an entire single poem or musical score from a copyright-protected work containing other poems or musical scores
- (g) an entire entry from an encyclopedia, annotated bibliography, dictionary or similar reference work
For more details on fair dealing analysis, visit UNB’s Fair Dealing page or contact copyright@unb.ca.
Yes. You can quote an insubstantial amount of text without obtaining copyright permission as long as you cite the source. However, copyright clearance may be required for making multiple copies of a substantial portion of a work, for copying the integral or most important portion of a work, and for copying stand-alone items (such as graphs, tables, figures, diagrams, maps, photographs, complete poems, images). In these instances, citing the source is not enough.
Yes, most of the time. While items such as graphs, charts, maps, photographs, diagrams or drawings are considered complete, stand-alone items it is possible to copy the entire work for a within the limits of the Fair Dealing or Educational exceptions specifically if they are portions from a larger work containing copyright material. If the item is a stand alone publication it will require copyright permission before further copying.
Does Fair Dealing mean that all copying for educational purposes is fair?
No. Fair Dealing means that you can copy a substantial part of a copyrighted work for the purposes of research, private study, criticism, review, news reporting, education, satire or parody provided that you do it fairly. Here are the six evaluation criteria that can help you determine whether your copying is fair: purpose, character, amount, alternatives, nature, and effect of the copying.
The Universities Canada Fair Dealing Guidelines give examples of the following short excerpts that can be copied for educational purposes:
- (a) up to 10% of a copyright-protected work (including a literary work, musical score, sound recording, and an audiovisual work)
- (b) one chapter from a book
- (c) a single article from a periodical
- (d) an entire artistic work (including a painting, print, photograph, diagram, drawing, map, chart, and plan) from a copyright-protected work containing other artistic works
- (e) an entire newspaper article or page
- (f) an entire single poem or musical score from a copyright-protected work containing other poems or musical scores
- (g) an entire entry from an encyclopedia, annotated bibliography, dictionary or similar reference work
For more details on fair dealing analysis, visit UNB’s Fair Dealing page or contact copyright@unb.ca.