10.1 Copyright and Fair Dealing Basics

Anything you find on the Internet is free, right? Nope!

As the saying goes, “Information wants to be free,” which might lead you to believe that anything you find on Google (or any other search engine) is actually free. Google will serve you all the information you need, most of it at no cost, but when it comes to locating images to use for a visual media project, do not confuse “free information” to also mean “free images.”

Copyright rules, fair dealing, and the terms of Creative Commons are complex, but knowing the basic rules will help you to ask the right questions.

Even experienced authors of visual media wrestle with the precise details about copyright. This chapter will help get you centered.

Consider the following questions as you think about your multimedia project:

1. Can I use a copyrighted image in my project?
2. Is the use of certain copyrighted images permissible under fair dealing?
3. How can something be both copyrighted and available under Creative Commons licensing?

What is Copyright?

Canadian copyright law has been evolving since the creation and passing of the Canadian Copyright Act in 1924. The Act itself is focused on promoting use and access to copyrighted works, while giving creators and/or rights holders recognition and protection for their work  (Government of Canada, 2017, para. 1-2).

Since then, numerous laws have been passed to refine the meaning of copyright and the terms upon which an author’s rights extend. The following video will give you an introduction to Copyright, public domain and fair use. While Canada has a “fair dealing” exception instead of fair use, many of the principles are the same.

Why do we have laws that restrict the copying and sharing of creative work? How do those laws work in the context of the internet, where nearly everything we do involves making a copy?

Copyright law is an important area of law, one that reaches into nearly every facet of our lives, whether we know it or not. Aspects of our lives that in some instances are not regulated by copyright – like reading a physical book – become regulated by copyright when technology is used to share the same book posted to the internet. Because almost everything we do online involves making a copy, copyright is a regular feature in our lives.

Copyright Fundamentals

You might not realize it, but copyright law is as integral to your daily life as local traffic laws. Copyright law is the area of law that limits how others may use the original works of authors (or creators, as we often call them) — works spanning the spectrum from novels and operas, to cat videos, to scribbles on a napkin.

Although copyright laws vary from country to country, there are certain commonalities among copyright laws globally, largely due to international treaties.

There are some important fundamentals you need to be aware of regarding what is copyrightable, as well as who controls the rights and can grant permission to reuse a copyrighted work.

1. Copyright grants a set of exclusive rights to creators, which means that no one else can copy, distribute, perform, adapt or otherwise use the work in violation of those exclusive rights. This gives creators the means to control the use of their works by others, thereby incentivizing them to create new works in the first place. The person who controls the rights, however, may not always be the author. It is important to understand who controls the exclusive rights granted by copyright in order to understand who has authority to grant permissions to others to reuse the work (e.g., adding a CC license to the work).
2. Copyright does not protect facts or ideas themselves, only the expression of those facts or ideas. That may sound simple, but unfortunately it is not. The difference between an idea and the expression of that idea can be tricky, but it’s also extremely important to understand. While copyright law gives creators control over the expression of an idea, it does not allow the copyright holder to own or exclusively control the idea itself.
3. As a general rule, copyright is automatic the moment a work is fixed in a tangible medium. For example, you have a copyright as soon as you type the first stanza of your poem or record a song in most countries. Registering your copyright with a local copyright authority allows you to officially record your authorship, and in some countries this may be necessary to enforce your rights or might provide you with certain other advantages. But generally speaking, you do not have to register your work to become a copyright holder.
4. Copyright protection lasts a long time. More on this later, but for now it’s enough to know that copyright lasts a long time, often many decades after the creator dies.

What is Fair Dealing / Fair Use?

As mentioned in the Understanding Copyright video, fair use/fair dealing is an exception to the rules of copyright, though what qualifies as fair can be tricky. The principle of Fair Use is related to American copyright law. In Canada, we rely on Fair Dealing as an exception to Canadian Copyright law.

Your use of copyrighted content will depend on a large variety of factors. Here are some general guidelines to guide your thinking.

Always check with your professor, your institution’s library team, or your employer before embarking on projects that may use copyrighted materials under fair dealing or another exception. In a commercial / work setting, you may need to pay for access to particular software/apps, for use of materials that were free in an educational setting, and more.