Copyright in Canada

As we come to the end of our Introduction to Research course, we were asked to listen to Melanie Wrobel, Copyright Manager at Royal Roads University (RRU), speak about copyright in Canada, a larger and more obscure topic than I had expected.  Specifically, here are my primary take-away points:

• Most work is protected by copyright in Canada, even if it is not registered.  (Registration of copyright does provide evidence, however.)
• Copyright differs by country and copyright laws are followed according to the country you are in.  There are no copyright laws which automatically protect your work internationally.  Each country’s copyright operates under the national copyright laws of that country. 
• “Fair dealing” is an exception in Canada’s copyright laws that allows the use of someone else’s work without permission in special circumstances, for example, research purposes or education.
• “Mash-ups” are another exception.  They allow, under certain conditions, the use of multiple copyrighted works (or multiple parts of a work) to be used to create new material, for example, taking parts of different research papers or course content (with credits to the original author(s)) and posting it on our Moodle course site
• Creative Commons licensing offers several licenses, free of charge, to the public to allow the legal sharing of creative works
• Different countries and even individual institutions, including RRU, have their own copyright laws which must be followed.  As with most laws, there are many interpretations and nuances, and not knowing is not an acceptable reason for breaking them.  If you are not sure if you are breaking a copyright law, be sure to find out!
• Copyright laws change.  Inventions such as photocopiers and cassette tapes, and now virtual private networks (VPNs) and streaming sites, have forced the need for copyright to keep pace.  Researchers have a responsibility to ensure they use materials legally.

Wrobel, M. (2019, June 3). A Guide to Copyright [Video file]. Retrieved from https://moodle.royalroads.ca/moodle/mod/page/view.php?id=347413