Guides: Copyright: Copyright in the Classroom

You, your students, and Capilano University can, for educational or training purposes, reproduce or communicate or perform publicly available material found on the Internet. The audience must be within Capilano University. Publicly available means that there were no technological barriers to access the information (password protected, encrypted, etc.). Additionally, the material must not have a clearly visible notice that prohibits educational use. The material being used must have been posted legally or you have no reason to believe it was posted illegally. You must cite the material.

Uses of the material can include incorporating materials into assignments, exchanging materials with instructors and peers, or reposting a work in Moodle.

See Section 30.04 of the Canadian Copyright Act for more detail.

Can I, or my students, use copyright protected works to create new content?

Anyone, including you and your students, can use copyright protected works to create new content - commonly referred to as a mash-up, as long as the following conditions are met:

the work created is used for non-commercial purposes
the original work is credited
the original work is obtained legally
the resulting work does not have a "substantial adverse effect" on the market for the original work

Parts of any number of works can be used and rights are not limited by how few or how many sources are used as long as the above conditions are met. The mash-up may be posted on the Internet.

See Section 29.21 of the Canadian Copyright Act for more detail.

Can my students use trademarked (TM) material found on the Internet in a work and post that work on the Internet?

Both copyright law and trademark law apply to this question. The provision noted above covers the use of the copyright in a logo, but not its trademark rights. Whether trademark is infringed depends on each specific case.

In general, to infringe a registered trademark in Canada, it must be “used” by someone not entitled to use it, or a confusing trademark must be used to “sell, distribute or advertise wares or services” (Trademarks Act, 19, 20(1)). The concept of “use” has specific meanings:

If the trademark is for goods, “use” requires that the mark be displayed when the goods are being sold, and
If the trademark is for services, “use” requires that the mark be displayed to advertise those services.

Therefore, if no goods or services are being sold, there is no infringement.

Additionally, the trademark cannot be used in a negative way, in a way that is likely to depreciate the value of the goodwill associated with the trademark (Trademarks Act, 22). Therefore, logos and trademarks used in student work should not be used in a negative way.

Students should also clearly mark any work produced as student work.

Can I post items scanned from copyright protected print materials in eLearn?

You may scan and upload to eLearn short excerpts of copyright works, but only if the excerpts qualify as fair dealing. Multiple chapters from different works cannot be assembled to replace a normal textbook purchase.

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