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Copyright at UNBC

The UNBC Copyright Office serves the UNBC community by providing information, services, and education to help faculty, staff, and students remain compliant with Canadian copyright law while focusing on teaching and research at UNBC. 

Copyright Documents

Copyright Legislation

UNBC's copyright policy was created to comply with the Canadian Copyright Act. Our fair dealing policy is based on a model by AUCC, ACCC, and Grant McEwan and was created to follow precedent set by the SCC. Below are important copyright cases and legislation guiding copyright in Canada.

Copyright Services

The UNBC Copyright Office offers many copyright services. These include: 

  • Reviewing Course Syllabi 
  • Providing copyright education and help with copyright-related questions 
    • Send an email or schedule an appointment
  • Creating PDF copies and permanent links for Moodle
  • Arranging permissions, licenses, and copyright clearance
  • Teaching workshops & answering individual copyright queries

If you have any other questions, please email or call the Copyright Office directly.

6 Point Fair Dealing Test

Fair dealing is an integral part of the copyright legislation and outlines the terms of the use of material for the purposes of research, private study, criticism, review, news reporting, parody, satire and education. The 6 point Fair Dealing test includes the following criteria:

  • Purpose of the use - Is the use for commercial purposes or educational/charitable use?
  • Character of the dealing - Are you making multiple copies or a single copy? Will it be widely distributed and have limited distribution? Will the use be on-going or is it a one-off or isolated use?
  • Importance/Amount of Work Copied - Are you using a significant excerpt? The whole work? Or is the amount you want to use limited or a trivial amount?
  • Effect of Dealing on the Original Work - Will your use be competing with the original work? Would it deter someone from purchasing the original work? Or does your use cause little or no detriment to the original work?
  • Nature of the Work - Is the work confidential? Perhaps unpublished? Or was it published in the public interest?
  • Available Alternatives - Could you achieve your purpose without using the work? Or is the work necessary to achieve your purpose?

How to check UNBC Licenses

Library Resource Records provide copyright information for licensed resources, including whether the material can be used in eReserves (or put on https://moodle.unbc.ca), included in print coursepacks, be shared on interlibrary loan, or allow for direct linking. The terms of use section also outlines any particular or special language/permissions from the license. 

You can access Library Resource Records from the first three tabs on the library homepage search box: 

General Search: Click the "Quick Look" button on the left side of the record. Terms and Conditions will be linked on the right side of the page. General Search does not show the terms and conditions for all resources. In these cases, use the methods below.  
Classic Catalogue: select 'Online Resource' or the title of the journal and then Terms and Conditions. 
Databases: under the Database tab, select the title.

*Please note - in a few cases, select journals (such as Harvard Business Review) have specialized permissions that are different from those in the database. These will be noted on the journals/articles within the database and normally don't show on the record. 

Copyright Queries

Legal Disclaimer

The UNBC Copyright Office makes every effort to provide accurate copyright information for educational purposes. This information is not to be construed as legal advice and should not be relied upon in that regard.