Copyright

Are you planning to copy or distribute copyright-protected material to students in your class?  If you are, please keep in mind that instructors are responsible for copyright clearance.  See the University of Lethbridge Copyright website for guidance on a variety of copyright topics. If you need help with copyright clearance, University Copyright Advisor office staff will be happy to assist.

For example, is the item you wish to distribute to students in your course available in a Library subscription database?  If so, the Copyright Permissions Look-up tool can help you find out if our license agreement permits you to place the PDF in Moodle or on E-Reserve.  We recommend that you link to online content instead of downloading it whenever possible, as this permits the automatic collection of valuable usage data.

Are there films or other audio-visual content you wish to present in class?  For on-campus classes, the Copyright Act provides users’ rights for educational institutions that permit screening of films and public performances of copyrighted works on campus when the purpose is educational and the audience is primarily U of L students and staff.  Find out more in the Copyright website FAQ.  Moodle is considered to be an extension of the University premises, but if you are teaching an online class and audio-visual content you wish to use is not in the Library’s online collections, you can investigate possible options with the University Copyright Advisor office.

Will any class assignments involve your students’ use of copyrighted content to create works?  If this is a possibility, you may wish to alert them to other users’ rights in the Copyright Act that they may find useful, including fair dealing and the user-generated content exception.  For assistance in understanding the copyright implications or possible users’ rights of any of your instructional activities, please feel free to contact the University Copyright Advisor office.