February 26, 2018. – The Canadian Association of Research Libraries is celebrating the start of Fair Dealing Week 2018 by taking to social media and relaunching an expanded http://fair-dealing.ca website to promote the benefits of copyright’s fair dealing exception.
Building on a website originally created in 2016 by University of Toronto Libraries, a group of copyright specialists from CARL libraries has enriched the now-bilingual site with new testimonials as well as additional content, just in time for the annual Fair Dealing Week. This year’s celebration takes place February 26 – March 2, and is celebrated concurrently with Fair Use Week in the United States. Several academic institutions and other organizations have organized events and activities for the week – a listing of these is also on the website.
In Canada and in many other countries, fair dealing is a part of copyright that recognizes that certain uses of copyright protected works are beneficial to society and therefore do not require the permission of the copyright holder. The Canadian Copyright Act allows the use of material from a copyright protected work (literature, musical scores, audiovisual works, etc.) without permission when certain conditions are met. Fair dealing has a positive impact for educators and students at all levels, creative professionals such as journalists, authors, filmmakers, and musicians, and individuals who want to use, copy or share portions of copyright protected works in their daily lives.
CARL President and University Librarian at Dalhousie University, Donna Bourne-Tyson stressed the importance of highlighting the benefits of fair dealing at this time: “The federal government is currently undertaking a review of Canada’s copyright legislation, and we as representatives of research libraries feel strongly that this user right must be maintained. While many people do not realize that they themselves make use of fair dealing on a regular basis, those of us who work in education – especially those of us in libraries – not only see the frequent application of this right, but also see the end results: the papers, the theses, the new scholarship and innovation that are the results of having benefited from such uses.”
Fair Dealing Week will be celebrated with a social media campaign on Twitter, using the hashtags #fairdealingworks, #faircopyright, and #fairdealingweek (and in French #droitdauteur and #utilisationequitable).
We invite you to share your personal fair dealing stories on Twitter. Tell us how fair dealing is important to your work, studies, or creative pursuits. We also invite you to submit your story as a testimonial, along with a photograph, to be considered for inclusion on the website. Contact Lise () to receive the Call for Testimonials (available in French and English) or to submit a testimonial.
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CARL provides leadership on behalf of Canada’s research libraries, promotes effective and sustainable knowledge creation, dissemination, and preservation, and enhances its members’ capacity to advance research and higher education. CARL members include Canada’s 29 largest university libraries and two federal institutions. CARL has launched Portage, comprising a library-based network of expertise on research data management and national platforms for planning, preserving, and discovering research data.
For more information:
Lise Brin, Program Officer
902.318.4485
