Copyright at TWU - DRAFT POLICY

Canadian copyright for academics at TWU

Copyright & Moodle

Moodle provides several challenges for faculty and staff who want to create easily-accessible resource collections for students, but still follow copyright law and the contracts we've signed with our e-resource providers. This page details the challenges and provides information about what is permissible.

Electronic Resources

Electronic Resources

When determining what is permissible for electronic resources, we need to consider the following:

I. Contracts we've signed with the providers of our electronic resources, i.e., journals and e-books.

  1. Within these contracts, differences among publishers. Many of them permit us to upload article PDFs to Moodle, but some do not. With the exception of the Harvard Business Review, which does not permit linking or uploading, it is best to provide students with a permanent link they can use to access the article directly from the database.
  2. See the Licence Permissions page for detailed information on what is permitted by our licences.
  3. For instruction in placing a permanent link in Moodle, see this video tutorial.
  4. In cases where you have permission to use a PDF from one of our databases, this should be noted in Moodle next to the link, along with full bibliographic information. For example:
    • pdf Panke, J., & Volicer, L. (2002). Caring for persons with dementia: a palliative approach. Journal Of Hospice & Palliative Nursing4(3), 143-152. Retrieved from: CINAHL with Full Text. Any further copying or distribution may be a violation of copyright.

II. The Fair Dealing provisions in the Copyright Act C-42 (Section 29).
III. The Education exceptions in the Copyright Act C-42 (Section 29.4 - 30.04).

 

PowerPoint Slides

When posting PowerPoint slides containing copyright materials to Moodle, you should consider the following:

Is the use "insubstantial"? Insubstantial use varies depending on the source material, but copying a few snippets of text from a book or article, an image, or a short excerpt of video or audio, is generally considered "insubstantial".

Does it meet the requirements of fair dealing? This is the preferred exception to use when using insignificant amounts or short excerpts of material for which you don’t have permission.

For materials you find on the Internet, consider:

  1. Does the site appear to have uploaded the material legally?
  2. Does the site require you to agree not to reproduce any of the materials before allowing access?
  3. Do you need to break a digital lock to access the materials?

The Education Institutions exceptions in the Copyright Act permit education-related activities that would normally be a violation of copyright. However, institutions and students must destroy any materials created under these exceptions within 30 days after students receive their final course evaluations [Section 30.01 (6)].

 

 

Video, Audio, & Web Materials

Video

Uploading video to Moodle is a violation of copyright unless you own the copyright, or have written permission from the copyright owner. In the case of online video such as YouTube, CBC, etc., it is usually permissible to link the video or embed the video in your Moodle site. If the copyright owner objects to it being on YouTube, it will be taken down and will disappear from your course site.

Audio

Music may not be uploaded to Moodle unless you own the copyright, or have written permission from the copyright owner. In cases where you have permission to use material, this should be noted in Moodle next to the link, along with full bibliographic information. In cases where the composer has been dead for more than 50 years, copyright may still reside with the performer or company that has produced the edition used in the recording. Uploading one's own performances of public domain musical works is no problem, but you should indicate this next to the link.

 

Web Materials

The web is built around linking, so linking is always permissible. However, you should not copy and save materials found on the web to Moodle unless you own the copyright, have written permission from the copyright owner, or it has been released under one of the Creative Commons licences. Generally, unless specific permission has been given to store a document or its information on another site, you should link to the site or document.

If you have questions about any of these procedures, contact Darcy Gullacher and he'll be happy to help you. 

Print Resources & Scanned Materials

Print Resources

For print resources we need to consider:

  1. The Fair Dealing provisions in the Copyright Act C-42 (Section 29).
  2. The Education exceptions in the Copyright Act C-42 (Section 29.4 - 30.04).

Scanned Material

Linking to authorized copies of material is preferable to scanning and uploading it to Moodle, although although scanning and uploading is likely permissible under fair dealing for the purposes of research, private study, education, parody, satire, criticism, or review. See the Fair Dealing page for details.

Specify that you are scanning and uploading the material under fair dealing in Moodle next to the link, along with full bibliographic information. For example: 

This copy was provided under the Fair Dealing provisions of the Canadian Copyright Act (C-42) for research, private study, education, parody, satire, criticism, review, or news reporting. If used for the purpose of review, criticism or news reporting, the source and the name of the author must be mentioned. The use of this copy for any other purpose may require the permission of the copyright owner. Any other use may be an infringement of copyright.