Educational exceptions in the Copyright Act allow specific uses of copyrighted work for educational purposes, without payment or permission from the copyright owner, provided certain conditions are met.
Note: the library subscribes to digital resources, use of which are governed by license agreements with content providers. Licenses take precedent over legislative allowances. Please ensure you review the Terms of Use prior to applying any exceptions or fair dealing.
The following sections below outline some areas for educational exceptions:
Publicly available materials on the internet
Copying for instruction (classroom display)
Performing a copyright-protected work
Copying a news program for classroom use
Members of the VIU community (students, staff, and faculty) are permitted to reproduce, share, or stream works available through the internet, provided:
The source and, if provided, the author, performer, maker, or broadcaster must be cited.
Copyright Act, Section 30.04
Members of the VIU community (students, staff, and faculty) are permitted to reproduce copyright-protected works for display in class, such as lecture slides, for teaching and training purposes, provided the works are not commercially available in an appropriate format.
Note: what you can display in the classroom may be different from what you can distribute to students (e.g., as a handout or post in VIULearn). Before distributing presentation slides containing copyright-protected works by others, ensure that:
Copyright Act, Section 29.4(1)
Members of the VIU community (students, staff, and faculty) are permitted to reproduce, translate, perform, or communicate electronically copyright-protected works for tests or exams, provided the works are not commercially available in an appropriate format.
Copyright Act, Section 29.4(2)
Members of the VIU community (students, staff, and faculty) are permitted to give live performances of copyright-protected works, such as plays, provided:
Copyright Act, Section 29.5(a)
Members of the VIU community (students, staff, and faculty) are permitted to make a single copy of a news program (excluding documentaries) for display, provided:
Copyright Act, Section 29.6(1)
Members of the VIU community (students, staff, and faculty) are permitted to show DVDs and videos on campus without permission or Public Performance Rights, provided:
For non-educational uses of media on campus, please refer to the Administrative & Staff Copyright Guide > Media page.
Copyright Act, Section 29.5(d)
Members of the VIU community (students, staff, and faculty) are permitted to play sound recordings on campus without permission, provided:
For non-educational uses of media on campus, please refer to the Administrative & Staff Copyright Guide > Media page.
Copyright Act, Section 29.5(b)
Do you have questions? Want to learn more? Contact the Copyright Office
The information on this website is provided as guidance for educational purposes and is not intended as legal advice.
VIU's copyright website is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License
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