Copyright at Okanagan College

An educational institution or people acting under its authority (e.g., faculty members, teaching staff, instructors), are permitted to do the following:

• Reproduce works available through the internet
• Reproduce works for display
• Reproduce works for tests and exams
• Show a film in class
• Reproduce works for lessons by telecommunication 
• Perform works or play sound recordings or live broadcasts
• Reproduce news and commentary

Works available through Internet 

• Reproduce and communicate works available on the Internet for educational purposes to students enrolled in a class (e.g., handing out the work in hardcopy, posting the work on a learning management system), provided that:

1. The works are available online openly and not protected by “digital locks” such as a paywall or password-protection.
2. There is no clearly visible notice specifically prohibiting the intended use of the work (this notice needs to be more than just the copyright symbol “©”).
3. The work has not been made available on the Internet in violation of the copyright owner’s rights.
4. The work is cited when you use it, with the source of the materials and the name of the author or creator if their name is available.

Reproduction for display 

• Reproduce a work or do any other necessary act, in order to display it in the classroom for educational purposes as long as the work is not already commercially available in an appropriate format. This would include, for example, scanning an image in a textbook for inclusion in a PowerPoint presentation.

Reproduction for tests or exams 

• Reproduce, translate, perform or broadcast materials protected by copyright on college premises for a test or exam, as long as the work is not already commercially available in an appropriate format.

Showing a film in class 

• Show a film or other cinematographic work (as long as it is a legal copy) in the classroom, as long as it is for educational or training purposes and as long as the work is not an infringing copy.

Reproduction for lessons by telecommunication

Lessons, including tests and exams, may be recorded and communicated to students enrolled in the course, provided that:

1. The recording or copy is destroyed within 30 days after the end of the course.
2. The institution takes measures to limit the audience to only students enrolled in the course in which the lesson was given.
3. The institution takes measures to prevent further copying and distribution of the lesson by the students in the course.

Performances, sound recordings, broadcasts and telecommunication 

• Performances of works such as plays or music can be performed live by students without infringing copyright if the performance takes place on the premises of the school and the audience is primarily students of the school or instructors.
• Play sound recordings for students on the premises of an educational institution for educational purposes, as long as the recording is not an infringing copy.
• Play radio or television programs live when they are being broadcast. It has been interpreted that this, arguably, includes webcasts.

News and commentary 

• Instructors may copy news and news commentary from radio and television broadcasts for educational use. The copy can be shown in a classroom to OC students for educational purposes.

This page was adapted from the USask Exceptions in the Copyright Act page which is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.5 Canada Licence 

Information obtained from or through this site does not constitute legal advice, but is provided as guidelines for using works for educational purposes.

The Copyright at Okanagan College website is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial ShareAlike 4.0 International License.