Assignment One: Copyright and Copy-wrong

 Fair Dealings protects a person when using others' materials or works for the purposes of research, private study, criticism, reviews, news reporting, education, satire and parody, but only in short excerpts. A short excerpt means up to 10% of a copyright-protected work or one chapter of a book, a single article from a periodical, an entire artistic work, an entire newspaper article or page, an entire single poem or musical score, or an entire entry from an encyclopedia, bibliography, dictionary or similar reference work. You are not, however, allowed to use multiple short excerpts from the same copyright-protected work. So sharing 10%, and then another 10%, and then another and another would be punishable by the copyright law. A fee can be charged when presenting others' copyrighted work without permission, but must be intended for covering the costs of the institution and overhead costs, and not for profit.

Teachers can copy and use others' works for the purpose of teaching and tests, but only for the purpose of education and training, and it is not already available in an appropriate format for the purpose. Although there are many exceptions and rights to students who have perceptual disabilities, a school or any other educational institute can not make a large-print book for a student without the permission from the copyright owner. Students and teachers can use audio and video in class and for projects, but only if under the following conditions:

•  it must take place on the premises of an educational institution; 
•  it must be for educational or training purposes; 
• it must not be for profit; 
• it must take place before an audience consisting primarily of students of the educational institution, persons acting under its authority, or any person who is directly responsible for setting a curriculum for the educational institution; and 
• it must not involve a “motive of gain.“

This only applies to radio and television as they are being transmitted live, and not media that has already been recorded.  These rules also apply when performing a play on school premises. Students can perform a copyright-protected play, but only under these conditions. Performing a play for drama class would be an example of this.

SOCAN is an organization that can provide licenses to schools and school boards across Canada to allow them to use live and recorded music not permitted by the Copyright Act. It is illegal to use these music files without permission from SOCAN when used for school dances, sporting events, as background music and at events when the admission fee is intended to make a profit. The key questions to ask when video and music use is legal to use by staff and students are:

• Did the music use occur during school hours?
• Will the student be graded on the activity involving the music use?
•  Does the music use involve a demonstration by a student or
• teacher for other students, teachers, assessors, or parents?
•  Is it reasonable to consider the music use to be for educational
• purposes? The phrase “educational purposes” is not defined
• in the Copyright Act but can be described as an activity that is
• planned and where the objective is for students to meet one or
• more subject or program outcomes.
•  Was the music used on school premises?
•  If admission was controlled, was it free?
•  Was the music use for a non-profit purpose?

Teachers, students, and any other person who wishes to create new works using copyrighted works is allowed to, and is protected under the Copyright Act, but only under these circumstances:

• It can only be used for non-commercial purposes. 
•  The original source must be mentioned, if it is reasonable to do so. 
•  The original work used to generate the content must have been acquired legally. 
• The resulting user-generated content does not have a “substantial adverse effect” on the market for the original work. 

This permits students to create DVD's, mashups, or videos as long as the conditions above have been all met.

 

Teachers can rent or buy a DVD and show it to their class as long as it is not an infringing copy. This can be a rented or purchased DVD, a copy borrowed from a library or friend, or a YouTube video. Teachers cannot, however, make a copy of a DVD, video or show at home and bring it to class. Only if the works is obtained legally can a teacher show a movie to their class. 

When pertaining to computer software, the owner of a computer software can make a single copy for only two reasons.

1. As a backup copy
2. For modification, adaptation, or converting the program into another language provided that:

                           i) the reproduction is essential for the compatibility of the program with a particular computer 

                          ii) the reproduction is solely for the person’s own use

                         iii) the copy is erased when the person ceases to be the owner of the copy of the program from which the copy was made.

Once the owner of the software is no longer the owner, they must prove that the copy was erased.

Teachers and students are allowed to copy publicly available images and works from the internet, but they are required to site the source of the content.

 Any works created by a student, whether it be video, essay, art work, web posts, ect. is protected by the Copyright Act. The student or the student's guardian must authorize the further use of their content. I am glad to hear this, because students create a lot of things and they can be taken advantage of because of this, as if just because we are students and had to do the work for our grade means we are not proud of it and wouldn't be upset if it was stolen. Well, we are, or at least I am. I am proud of a lot of the projects and assignments we are told to do, and I would be deeply upset if I seen my work signed with a name that wasn't mine. I am glad that all of the work I create while in school or for class is automatically protected, although putting a copyright sign for good measure wouldn't be a bad idea.

(Example of a book reference)

Keenan, Jules (2015)  Interviews With My Late Night Self  New Brunswick: Jules Keenan, $15.99