Fair dealing and educational exceptions in the Copyright Act often cannot be employed for general institutional uses (e.g., in publications, brochures, posters, promotional materials, website, etc.).

These activities are considered commercial in nature and generally require permission from the copyright owner.

To obtain permission to use a work for non-educational purposes, contact the copyright owner. Ownership is usually indicated in the copyright statement next to the © symbol.

The Copyright Office can also assist with permissions. 

Publicly accessible vs. password-protected online

Copyright considerations for posting content on a publicly accessible website are very different and much more restrictive than the copyright considerations for placing content in a password-protected site that is restricted to students enrolled in a VIU course (e.g., VIULearn) or a password-protected employee portal or website. 

Getting permission

Most copyright-protected content posted on a publicly accessible website requires permission from the copyright owner to not be considered copyright infringement.

Please note that faculty are owners of their intellectual property (see VIU's Intellectual Property Policy [31.13]). If you are posting faculty materials, please ensure you have explicit permission in writing to use and publish their IP.

Using images

Images are the most common copyright-protected content posted on websites. The section on Media in this guide has more information on using images and includes resources for finding images that have permissive licenses and minimal copyright considerations.

For further support, contact the Copyright Office.