PLEASE NOTE: This section only applies to uses of works in your physical classrooms – it does not apply to the online classroom or any internet use. Please refer to ‘Digital Classroom’ if you have questions regarding these uses.
2.3 Can I play music in class?
2.4 Can I play videos in class?
2.5 Can students include copyrighted materials in their assignments and presentations?
2. CAMPUS CLASSROOM
2.1 Can I include other people’s images and materials in my PowerPoint presentations? What if I want to provide copies of the presentation to my students?
Generally, you may include other people’s works in your classroom presentations without having to get permission or pay a fee, provided that there is no commercial version available of such works. Under the educational exceptions within the Copyright Act, you may make copies of works to project or display in class on UBC premises for educational and training purposes, provided that the work is not already available in a commercial format.
However, the exception only covers projections or display in class on campus (when you are acting under the authority of an educational institution). It does not allow you to make copies and hand those copies out to students.
If you want to include works in a PowerPoint presentation outside of the UBC campus, for example, to a community forum, you may only do so if you fall within the fair dealing exception or have permission from the copyright owner.
2.2 I’ve come across a recent journal article and/or several pages from a book that I want to distribute to my students. Can I photocopy it and hand it out to them?
You may make copies to hand out to your students only if you have received permission from the copyright owner. Under the Copyright Act, making multiple copies for your students would not be allowed under the fair dealing exception. The fair dealing exception allows one to make single copies only. If you want to provide articles or excerpts from a book to students on a regular basis, for example, every year that you teach the course, and you know what articles or excerpts you want to include in advance, you should consider creating a course pack.
2.3 Can I play music in class?
Yes. The Copyright Act allows you to play a sound recording or live radio broadcasts in class as long as it is for educational or training purposes, not for profit, on UBC premises and before an audience consisting primarily of students, faculty or any person who is directly responsible for setting a curriculum for UBC. However, if you want to use music for non-educational purposes, for example, for background music at a conference or in an athletic facility, a licence must be obtained from the copyright collective SOCAN.
2.4 Can I play videos in class?
It depends. You can play videos in class in the following circumstances:
- If your video has public performance rights included – UBC Library purchases some videos that come with the right to play the video in class. If the video you want to show comes with these rights, you can play it in class. See the UBC Library’s Guide to Videos, Films and DVDs.
- If you want to show a television news program – Under the Copyright Act, educational institutions, or those acting under their authority, can copy television news programs and play them in class to students provided it is done within a year of the program being aired. However, documentaries and films are not covered by this exception.
- If you want to show a film or documentary – UBC has licences with two major film distributors which allows instructors to show certain licenced films in class provided records are kept and reported. However, the licences only cover certain feature films and not documentaries. To determine if a feature film is covered by the UBC licences, search the online catalogues of the two distributors covered by the UBC Licences: Audio-Cine www.acf-film.com and Criterion Pictures www.criterionpic.com
- If you only want to show an excerpt from a video – This may be covered by fair dealing if you show it for the purposes of research, private study, criticism or review and the showing would be considered “fair” under the Fair Dealing Guidelines.
If you wish to copy television broadcasts that are not news or current events programs, or play a copy of a news or current event program more than a year after it was broadcast, or want to show a documentary or film in class, you should contact Media Booking for more information.
2.5 Can students include copyrighted materials in their assignments and presentations?
Generally yes. The fair dealing exception allows students to use works for research, private study, criticism or review. So provided the student is including the work for one of these purposes, and acknowledges the author and source of the material, and the use could be characterized as fair, bearing in mind the fair dealing factors, it will likely be covered by the fair dealing exception.
2.6 I want to display someone else’s work in my classroom during one of my lectures. Isn’t there some sort of exception for that?
There are some exceptions in the Copyright Act for educational institutions which allow copying and display of materials for educational purposes, but at present they are very limited. They cover displaying material in class on campus, reproducing material for tests and exams, playing music and news or current events programs, and doing live performances of works. The fair dealing exception might also cover some such uses.
2.7 Are there any databases of copyrighted materials that I can use for free without worrying about copyright?
Yes. There is a wealth of material which is either in the public domain or available under what is known as Creative Commons licensing, which generally means the work is available for free, subject to certain conditions specified in the licence, such as non-commercial use only and acknowledgment of the author.
For Creative Commons materials, visit the Creative Commons website for more information or check out their content directories which list audio, video, image and text materials available under Creative Commons licensing. For public domain material, simply search online for ‘public domain’ and the type of material you’re interested in. Some useful sites include:Project Gutenberg (the largest collection of copyright-free books online) and Wikipedia, which has an entire page dedicated to public domain resources.
For other online materials, a recommended best practice is to check the website’s ‘Terms of Use’, or ‘Legal Notices’ section to confirm whether specific consents have been provided by the copyright owner to allow use of the website’s materials. In some cases, you may be able to use the website materials for free for non-commercial and educational purposes. However, please note that if the website, including the Terms of Use or Legal Notices sections do not provide any consents relating to use of website materials, you should assume that copyright consents are required from the copyright owner.
