What Can I Copy from the Internet???

A Few Words About Copyright

"Question Copyright"
CC licensed (BY-SA) 2006 Stephan Baum

According to Canadian Copyright laws, the first person to author/ create a piece of work has right to reproduce, publish and sell their work. This applies to writing, performances, art, recordings and communication signals. That means any original work you or your students create is copyrighted by you regardless of whether or not a copyright symbol is actually on it or not.*

Copyright extends throughout the creator's life, the rest of the year calendar year in which they die plus an additional 50 years. After that period, the work enters the Public Domain and can be used by anyone. You are always welcome to used copyrighted work IF you get permission from the copyright-holder. Without that permission, you cannot normally use their work.

The Canadian Copyright Act DOES NOT protect ideas, concepts or themes - but it does protect the language and words used to express them... Thus, you and your students are welcome to build on the ideas of others but not copy their work. As teachers, we ask students to do this all the time and to cite their sources of inspiration. However, citing your source does not give you permission to break copyright laws and copy someone's original work. This applies pictures, music and writing.

Educational Exceptions

"Copyright Intro" CC Licensed (BY-NC-SA) 2011
via the Center for Computer-Assisted legal Instruction's (CALI)
flickr photostream 

In 2012, Canada modernized it's copyright laws to include some Fair Deal Exceptions.

Bill C-11 stated that copyrighted materials could be used for research, private study, education, satire, parody, criticism, review or news reporting without the creator's permission IF responses to the following questions could be deemed fair:

1. Purpose: Is the copying really for its intended purpose or have you created a new purpose for the work?
2. Character: Can my copy be destroyed immediately after usage or will multiple copies continue to exist that could be confused with the original or somehow impact the original?
3. Amount: How much of the original work is being used? Is it a reasonable amount that you think the creator would agree to?
4. Alternatives: Is there any other alternative? Is a non-copyrighted equivalent available? Was taking this work the only possible option?
5. Nature: Is the work publicly available (e.g. not confidential or unpublished)? Did someone share it who shouldn't have?
6. Effect: What effect will copying this work have on the earning potential of the original - will I take a share of the market?

If you feel like you could confidently argue your answers to these questions in court if challenged by the creator then go ahead and use the work. If not, then it's probably best to find an alternate source...

More information about copyright can be found using these links:

• More info and lessons on Fair Dealing from MediaSmarts
• Student Guide to Copyright for MultiMedia Presentations from Mount Royal University - interesting examples on the differences between showing a slideshow and providing handouts of the same slideshow, use of music, use of video
• Canadian Info for teachers about classroom materials - caution: this does not model for students what they can do outside of an educational setting

"Copyright Checkmark" CC licensed (BY-SA) 2011
by Hammersoft

Where to Find Images that are Free to Use and Share

Many photographers allow others to use their work. Students are being encouraged to use these simple sites to find pictures where usage has been granted:

• Pics4Learning
• http://pics4learning.com is a copyright-friendly image library for teachers and students. ThePics4Learning collection consists of thousands of images that have been donated by students, teachers, and amateur photographers. Unlike many Internet sites, permission has been granted for teachers and students to use all of the images donated to the Pics4Learning collection. Citations are provided.
• Veezzle
• http://www.veezzle.com is a free stock photo search engine that searches other image sites. Citation information differs depending on the source. (it had some hiccups recently which seem to have been fixed)
• Google Advanced Search
• Do your search. In Images go to the gear and click on Advanced Search. You can change all kinds of things - in this, case scroll to the bottom and filter the images that are free to use or share. It’s hard to find the citation information.
• HaikuDeck
• Available online or as an iPad app that lets you create simple slideshows and has a plethora of images available for use without having to cite any sources

A few more options are available on Mount Royal’s LibGuide about Copyright Information

Citing Your Sources

Websites often use images without the creator’s permission and the Copyright Act does not specifically say how images that are free to use or share should be cited. However, other guidelines do exist:

1. What to include in MLA Website Citations
2. What to include in APA Website Citations
3. What to include in Chicago/ Turabian Website Citations

Pam and Lara have created a draft document that describes how to cite sources. But remember: this just proves that you are not plagiarizing and gives credit to the creators, citing your source does not give you permission to copy anyone’s work.

* There are some exceptions to automatic personal copyright:

• works prepared for or under the direction of the Government of Canada are owned by the Crown
• works created by employees as part of that employment are owned by the employer
• sound recordings are owned by the person who made the arrangements necessary for the sounds to be recorded
• actors, singers, dancers and musicians own their performances
• signals emitted by broadcasters belong to the broadcaster