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Multimedia and Mass Communication: Copyright

 

                   As a student you always need to credit the sources you use, even if it is open source or CC0.

Catagories

COPYRIGHT

  • is owned by the creator
  • is automatically granted to the creator
  • covers derivative works (other items based on the original work)
  • expires 50 years after the death of the creator

 

CREATIVE COMMONS

  • can only be applied by the copyright owner
  • allows usage rights to be conferred automatically within the terms of the chosen license
  • Creative Commons 0 is like public domain, waives as many rights as legally possible

 

PUBLIC DOMAIN

  • means that no one owns copyright or licensing rights
  • is automatic 50 years after the creator's death (in Canada)
  • can be conferred to items at any time by their creator/copyright owner
  • is automatic for items created by the US government. Canadian government items retain rights to some items

 

 

For more reading and fun examples check out the following information from Capilano University Library and the University of Alberta Copyright Office. 

Student work falls under the Fair Dealing right contained in the Copyright Act.

Fair dealing allows you to copy from a copyrighted work, without the copyright owner's permission, if the copy is for one these purposes:

  • research,
  • private study,
  • education,
  • parody or satire,
  • criticism or review
  • news reporting

Students still need to cite all sources.

 Even if your use falls under one of the exemptions, the use must still be deemed "fair".

Neither the Copyright Act, nor the decisions of the courts interpreting fair dealing set out exactly what is fair in any particular instance. One must consider all of the relevant factors, including:

  1. the purpose of the proposed copying, including whether it is for research, private study, education, parody or satire, criticism, review or news reporting;
  2. the character of the proposed copying, including whether it involves single or multiple copies, and whether the copy is destroyed after it is used for its specific intended purpose;
  3. the amount of the dealing from the individual user's perspective, including the proportion of the work which is proposed to be copied and the importance of that excerpt in relation to the whole work;
  4. alternatives to copying the work, including whether there is a non-copyrighted equivalent available;
  5. the nature of the work, including whether it is published or unpublished; and
  6. the effect of the copying on the work, including whether the copy will compete with the commercial market of the original work.