As a student, your main copyright challenge is to ensure you properly cite all sources you use in your school work!

You need to cite to ensure...

• You give credit to the original authors/sources of information and avoid plagiarism
• Your readers can quickly access your original sources
• You add credibility to your assignments and help prove your arguments.

Colleges/Universities, subject areas and professions select and use a standard method of citation. Be sure to check with your Professor on what method to use.

Please contact the Library for guidance in the application of this exception.  

Fair Dealing is an exception in the Copyright Act. Sections 29, 29.1 and 29.2 state a work used for the purpose of research, private study, education, parody or satire, criticism, review, and news reporting does not infringe copyright. To qualify for fair dealing, two tests must be passed.

1. The first test is that the "dealing" must be for a purpose stated in the Copyright Act. This includes research, private study, education, parody or satire, criticism, review, and news reporting. Educational use of a copyright-protected work passes the first test.
2. The second test requires that the dealing must be considered "fair". In landmark decisions made in 2004 and 2012, the Supreme Court of Canada provided guidance as to what this test means in educational institutions. The six factors for this test are:
   1. The purpose of the dealing.
   2. The character of the dealing.
   3. The amount of the dealing.
   4. The availability of alternatives to the dealing.
   5. The nature of the copyright-protected work.
   6. The effect of dealing on the copyright-protected work.