February 22-26 is Fair Use / Fair Dealing Week. To mark this event, CARL member libraries have planned various activities and initiatives to increase their campus communities’ understanding of the rights and practices associated with fair dealing.
Fair dealing is an exception in the Copyright Act that allows the copying of limited portions of copyrighted material for specific purposes, provided that the use is ‘fair’. Acceptable purposes under fair dealing include education, research, and private study, which is why educational institutions have been able to make regular use of fair dealing for many uses on their campuses. Using copyrighted material for fair dealing purposes does not infringe copyright. In fact, it is considered a user right in Canada.
Two years ago, a few academic institutions in the United States launched Fair Use Week (fair use is a similar user right within US Copyright law). The celebration has since grown to reflect both Fair Use and Fair Dealing.
The following is a sampling of Fair Dealing Week activities by CARL libraries:
- The University of Alberta Libraries is collaborating with MacEwan University, NAIT, and NorQuest College to host a panel and discussion of fair dealing on Thursday, February 25th.
- Staff and librarians at the Scholarly Communication Office at the University of Toronto Libraries have created fairdealingcanada.com, a website which will collect testimonials from members of university communities across the country describing how fair dealing matters to them.
- The University of Ottawa Library is hosting a presentation and discussion considering fair dealing and its place within international copyright law on Wednesday, February 24th.
- The University of New Brunswick Library has created an informative video that gives users a thorough introduction to fair dealing.
Follow us on Twitter at @carlabrc throughout the week to learn about Fair Dealing Week at CARL libraries across the country.
