A08.01.01 College Use of Copyrighted Works

Policy Statement

General Information

Procedures/Rules Statements

Education and Awareness

Policy Statement

Copyright is the right to reproduce in any form a work or parts of a work, to perform in public, or to publish an unpublished work. Douglas College recognizes the need to balance the benefits of sharing ideas for educational purposes with obtaining just compensation for the creator of the work.

Douglas College respects Canadian and International laws and agreements regarding the use of copyrighted works. The College acknowledges that copyright exists upon the creation, in durable form, of any original expression of ideas, regardless of format - print, digital, graphical, audio or video - in which such expression occurs.

The College will facilitate legitimate academic use of copyrighted materials and will regularly inform College employees and students of copyright law and policy.

General Information

It is the responsibility of the individual using copyrighted material to ensure that appropriate permission has been obtained prior to using it.

This policy applies to all uses of all publication media - print, digital, graphical, Internet, audio, and video.

The College recognizes that fair dealing, which allows individuals and institutions limited copying of works for private study, research, criticism, review, or news reporting, does not cover all educational uses of copyrighted material.

Douglas College has entered into an agreement with Access Copyright, The Canadian Copyright Licensing Agency. This agreement establishes terms and conditions allowing the College to copy from most published works within certain licensed limits.

Permission to use copyrighted material must be secured in accordance with existing agreements, and in consultation with the Bookstore, the Library, or Client & Learning Services, CEIT, depending on the type of material. Questions relating to copyright issues should be referred to the appropriate persons:

• The Bookstore Manager for Photocopiers and Print Materials.
• The Director of Learning Resources for all Print Reserves (including books, articles, and periodicals), and Audio/Visual Materials.
• The Manager of Client & Learning Services for all Audio/Visual Recording, Digital (including electronic course content, graphics, Internet, and digital formats), and Computer Software (including computer software site licences).

Procedures/Rules Statements

The Bookstore will maintain an agreement with Access Copyright to license limited and regulated copying of print material. The Library and Client & Learning Services, CEIT, will seek similar copyright arrangements to facilitate the academic uses of digital copies and copies of digital materials as and when such licences become available from copyright collectives.  In the interim Douglas College is able to obtain transactional licences for certain digital uses of material from Access Copyright, where the request is made in advance of use and additional royalty fees are paid. Audio visual materials used in the College may be covered by public performance rights or other licensing agreements.

The Bookstore, the Library and Client & Learning Services, CEIT, shall be responsible for establishing and publishing procedures for Copyright policy compliance. They shall also ensure that records are kept and numbers reported to the relevant copyright collective in accordance with the College's agreements.

Photocopiers

Members of the College community shall not use any College owned or leased equipment to make copies in violation of the Copyright Act and the copyright licence.

Works protected by copyright may be copied on College photocopiers only if authorized by:

      -  the Copyright Act for the purpose of fair dealing or under specific exemptions set out in that Act;
      -  the copyright owner;
      -  a licence agreement between the College and a collective society; or          
      -  a licence approved by the Copyright Board of Canada in the form of a tariff, if any.

Duplicating Print Material

The Print Shop will copy material only after the individual requesting such copying has provided assurance, in writing, that he/she is aware of and in compliance with the Use of Copyrighted Works Policy.

Instructors must complete the copyright log sheet before requesting the Bookstore to produce coursepacks.

Audio and Video Materials

Audio and video materials copyright is protected regardless of the format in which they are stored.

College employees and students may make, retain, and use copies of news programs and news commentary programs for educational purposes for up to one year without payment of royalties. Any other off-air taping is for preview only and may not be used in a classroom.  These tapes must be destroyed after thirty days. Records must be kept by the individual or department involved of the creation, use and destruction of any such copies.

Videos and DVD's must be licensed for public performance if they are used in a classroom or on campus. College employees and students need to obtain permission from the copyright owners before copying, retaining, and using audio or video materials.  These materials are not covered under the licence with Access Copyright. The College will adhere to any other licensing agreement imposed by distributors.

Online Content

Materials posted online have the same copyright protection as materials in print or other physical media. Such materials are not covered by the College licence with Access Copyright and may be copied only with the permission of the copyright holder or by obtaining an additional transactional licence from Access Copyright.

Unless the use is authorized by the Copyright Act, written permission of the copyright holder or a transactional licence from Access Copyright must be obtained prior to use of copyright protected material on the Internet.  Uses that require additional permission include:

-     editing;
-     incorporation into new documents; or
-     conversion from one format to another

Publication access to College-owned Internet servers and College-rented space on outside servers will be provided only to those who give assurance, in writing, that they are aware of and in compliance with the Copyright Policy.

Links to Internet sites of College employees or students, not on College-owned servers, will be placed on College Web pages only if the Webmaster has been given assurance, in writing, that the outside site is in compliance with the Copyright Policy.

Computer software has the same copyright protection as materials in print or other physical media. Members of the College community shall not make unauthorized copies, reproduce any portion of any computer program, or use unauthorized copies of software on computers owned by the College.

Education and Awareness

The Bookstore, the Library and Client & Learning Services, CEIT, will seek opportunities to provide information to the College community regarding copyright procedures, legislation, rights and responsibilities.

Contact information for those responsible for administering this policy and advising on its implementation will be made easily accessible to all members of the College community.

Instructors and other College employees engaged in instructional activities will, where reasonable to do so, inform students how to access copyright information.

The College is required to exercise due diligence in ensuring that College employees and students of the institution adhere to copyright legislation and agreements.

Any member of the College community who violates this policy may be subject to loss of access to the facilities of production such as photocopiers, printers, audio and video recording devices, scanners, and Internet servers.

The College may take disciplinary action up to, and including, termination of employment or permanent expulsion against any member of the Douglas College community who deliberately breaches copyright law or copyright licensing agreements.

This policy will be reviewed, as needed, to reflect changing copyright legislation and licensing agreements.