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Copyright

A guide to copying and digitization at Brandon University

Guide to Fair Dealing


It can often be tricky to determine whether something you want to do falls within fair dealing.  The  Copyright Modernization Act (C-11)  includes education as a fair dealing “Purpose”.  Consequently, anyone using content for this purpose can skip to Step 2 to determine if the use is “Fair” as part of the two-factor Fair Dealing Analysis .  

Ultimately, it will depend on your particular circumstances and you have to make a judgment call as to whether your use can be classified as fair.


STEP 1:   CHECK WHETHER YOUR PURPOSE IS A PERMITTED PURPOSE
Are you using the work for the purpose of:

  1. Research
  2. Private study
  3. Education, Parody or Satire
  4. Criticism
  5. Reviews
  6. News reporting

YES → Continue to step 2

NO → Check whether use is covered under:

  1. Any other Copyright Act exception
  2. Library licences for electronic journals and databases
  3. Cinematograph film licence
  4. Any other agreement


STEP 2:   CHECK WHETHER YOUR USE IS “FAIR”
Is the nature of the dealing fair?

 

 
Less Fair
More Fair

 

Purpose

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
Commercial
Charitable / 
Educational

 

Character of the dealing

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
Multiple copies
Single copy
 
Widely distributed / 
repetitive
Limited distribution /
one-off

 

Importance / amount of work copied

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
Entire Work / 
Significant excerpt
Limited / 
trivial amount

 

Effect of dealing on the original work

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
Competing with 
original work
No detriment 
to original

 

Nature of the work

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
Confidential / 
unpublished
Published / 
in public Interest

 

Available alternatives

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
Non-copyright works 
available
No alternative 
works
 
Not necessary for 
purpose
Necessary to achieve 
purpose
 
 

Attributed via Creative Commons Licensing to:    University of Waterloo. (2011). Copyright FAQ. Retrieved July 27, 2011 from  http://www.lib.uwaterloo.ca/copyright/fair_dealing_guide.html 

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Carmen Kazakoff-Lane
Contact:
Carmen Kazakoff -Lane, Scholarly Communications Librarian
John E. Robbins Library - ( LB 2-19 )
270-18th Street
Brandon, Manitoba
R7A 6A9

VIDEOCONFERENCING:
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