Digital Classroom
Copyright information regarding:
- the learning management system (LMS) e.g. OWL
- transmitting copies electronically
4.1 What “best practices” should I follow anytime that I post copyright-protected materials on Western’s LMS?
4.2 Is there any difference between posting something on my own website versus posting something on Western’s LMS?
4.3 What is a Digital Lock?
4.4 May I post a PDF of a journal article I obtained through the library’s e-journals, or a book chapter, to Western’s learning management systems for my students to read?
4.5 I gave a PowerPoint presentation in a class lecture which includes materials from a textbook (including multiple graphs and images), as well as articles and photos from various Western Library e-journals. Can I post a video or audio recording of the class lecture (such as a recorded voice-over Powerpoint of the lesson) on Western’s learning management systems? I’ll be sure to cite where the figures came from.
4.6 If I distribute two different excerpts from a textbook, one distributed as a class handout on the first day of class and one posted on my Western learning or course management system on the last day of class, are these considered to be separate instances of “fair dealing”?
4.7 Is it okay to use images or other material from the internet for educational purposes?
4.8 Do I need to ask permission to link to a website?
4.9 May I post examples of my students’ work on my Western’s learning or course management system?
4.10 I adopted a textbook for my course, and the book representative gave me instructional materials, including images, PowerPoint files, etc. Can I distribute any of those materials to my students on paper or in my Western learning or course management system?
4.1 What “best practices” should I follow anytime that I post copyright-protected materials on Western’s LMS?
If you wish to rely on the fair dealing or other educational exceptions to post copyright-protected materials on Western’s LMS, you need to ensure that the postings are subject to reasonable safeguards to prevent students from distributing, transmitting or disseminating such materials to persons outside the course or class. You should abide by the following best practices:
- Use the Learning Management System (LMS) e.g. OWL, to post and distribute course materials. Since Western’s LMS restricts access to students enrolled in your particular course or class and requires a Western Identity in order to logon, it satisfies several of the conditions of the statutory exceptions;
- Use of third party material posted into the LMS must comply with the provisions of the Fair Dealing or Educational Institutions exception;
- Unless you have the copyright holder’s permission to do so, only portions of works may be posted onto OWL to qualify under the Fair Dealing or the Educational Institutions exception;
- Making portions of a work available in the students’ choice of format is acceptable, as long as all of the conditions of the Fair Dealing Guidelines are met;
- Attribution is always required not only when specifically required by the Copyright Act (that is for the purposes of criticism, review or news reporting) but also to comply with Western’s policy on plagiarism
- Only include enough material that is reasonably necessary for the purpose of the course;
- Include a clearly visible notice on all materials you post that states:
“This copy is made solely for personal use for research, private study, education, parody, satire, criticism or review. Further reproduction, fixation, distribution, transmission, dissemination, communication, or any other uses, without securing the consent of the copyright owner may be an infringement of copyright. You may not distribute, e-mail or otherwise communicate these materials to any other person.”
- Remind your students to protect their passwords, so that unauthorized users cannot access Western’s LMS.
4.2 Is there any difference between posting something on my own website versus posting something on Western’s LMS?
Yes. There is an important distinction between personal websites that are usually widely available to anyone on the internet, and websites like OWL that have restricted access. Clearance to post copyrighted materials on an LMS does not permit posting the same materials on your own personal website or any other publicly accessible website.
Western’s learning management system is:
- a password-protected, secure website
- chiefly used for educational purposes.
- restricted to and accessible by an audience that primarily consists of Western students.
These are all conditions required by the Educational Institutions exception of the Copyright Act and section 30.01 specifically extends these conditions to “telecommunicating” lessons, transmitting them to students via the learning management system. So reproducing copyright-protected work is authorized by the statute when using OWL, provided all additional conditions and limitations are met.
By contrast, most personal websites are publicly accessible, in the sense that anyone may visit them, not just your students. See Western’s Educational Institutions Exception Guidelines for additional detail.
Posting portions of copyright-protected works on Western’s LMS may also be included in the terms of one of Western’s digital licences, or in accordance with the Fair Dealing exception. Posting portions of copyright-protected works on Western’s LMS may also be included in the terms of one of Western’s digital licences, or in accordance with the Fair Dealing exception. Follow Western’s Fair Dealing Analysis to apply the fair dealing exception to particular situations.
Posting portions of a copyrighted work on your own website or some other publicly accessible website would generally be considered infringement, unless clearance was received from the copyright owner.
The Copyright Act, section 41 refers to a digital lock as a “technological protection measure” or TPM. The term describes any technology, device or component that controls or restricts either the access to or the copying of a work, for example, password protection or encryption.
The Act prohibits circumventing, also defined in this section of the Act, any TMP that restricts or controls access to a work. This means that if the work you wish to reproduce is protected by a digital lock, you must not do anything, such as descramble, decrypt, bypass, deactivate or impair the TPM in order to access and copy the work, even if your dealing with the work is covered by a statutory exception such as Fair Dealing or the Educational Institutions exception.
4.4 May I post a PDF of a journal article I obtained through the library’s e-journals, or a book chapter, to Western’s learning management systems for my students to read?
Posting a single article from a periodical publication or a chapter from a book to Western’s secure learning management system is generally permitted under a statutory exception such as Fair Dealing or in the licensed use terms of one of Western’s digital licences. You will need to complete a Fair Dealing Analysis or check the licensed use terms to be sure however.
While posting a PDF of a journal article may be possible, it is worth considering whether there is an alternative, such as providing a durable link to the digital version of the item, rather than reproducing and uploading it into OWL. While it does rely on a stable web connection, the persistent link will enbed authentication to the hosting database when necessary, and only allow access to authenticated users. This link may also be the best way to allow your students to have access to the most recent version of an article since it is common for publishers to make corrections or changes to articles after initial publication.
It is important to remember that statutory exceptions and licensed use terms generally do not permit you to upload to a website, or create links on a website that is not part of Western’s secure network, and that is open to the world at large.
4.5 I gave a PowerPoint presentation in a class lecture which includes materials from a textbook (including multiple graphs and images), as well as articles and photos from various Western Library e-journals. May I post a video or audio recording of the class lecture (such as a recorded voice-over Powerpoint of the lesson) on Western’s learning management system? I’ll be sure to cite where the figures came from.
The Copyright Act allows educational institutions to communicate lessons (which includes parts of lessons, tests or examinations) on-line, to students enrolled in a specific course, for education or training purposes, and to record the lessons, as long as the inclusion of any third party copyrighted materials in the lessons is allowed under another exception under the Copyright Act, such as the fair dealing exception or other educational exceptions.
Students can make a copy of telecommunicated lessons for personal use, to be viewed or listened to at a later time.
The following conditions must be followed:
- the institution must take reasonable measures to limit the audience to students only (e.g. secure password-protected access such as OWL), and to prevent the students from fixing, reproducing or communicating the lessons except as permitted by the Act.
- the recordings cannot be sold, rented or distributed widely ) to the public (beyond the audience of students enrolled in the class) in any way that prejudices the copyright owner.
- the student and the institution must destroy the recording, fixation or copy within 30 days after receipt of final course evaluations;
This exception would allow you to post a video or audio recording of your class lecture, including a recorded voice-over Powerpoint of the lesson, on Western’s secure learning management system, as long as you comply with the conditions.
For materials from Western’s licensed electronic resources, the terms of the digital licence may also impact how material can be used.
Citing sources is always necessary whenever we use the work of others for research, teaching and learning. Although required by the Copyright Act in some circumstances such as news reporting, attribution also ensures compliance Western’s policy on plagiarism.
4.6 If I distribute two different excerpts from a textbook, one distributed as a class handout on the first day of class and one posted on my Western learning or course management system on the last day of class, are these considered to be separate instances of “fair dealing”?
You should not copy from the same copyright-protected work beyond what is permitted by Western’s Fair Dealing Guidelines. Follow Western’s Fair Dealing Analysis to apply the fair dealing exception to particular situations. If you are copying different excerpts from the same book, combine all copying instances to determine whether you fall within the amount factor limitations, keeping in mind that a fair dealing analysis encompasses more than just the amount factor.
Copying or communicating multiple portions from the same copyright-protected work with the effect of reproducing the complete work or a substantial part of it would be considered systemic or cumulative copying and is prohibited.
4.7 Is it okay to use images or other material from the internet for educational purposes?
Materials on the internet are treated the same way under copyright law as any other copyrighted materials, so if you want to use them, you have to either fall within one of the Copyright Act’s exceptions or have permission from the copyright owner.
The Educational exception allows you to use, copy, e-mail or perform these internet materials for classroom presentations, or for posting into a Western secure learning management system (for educational or training purposes), as long as you satisfy the following criteria:
- you do not break or circumvent a digital lock to access or obtain a copy of the work;
- there is no clear and visible notice on the website or on the work itself that prohibits the use or reproduction of the work, more than just a copyright symbol;
- the website is not questionable, infringing or clearly using the works without the copyright owner’s consent.
- you must also identify the source of the work and, if available and applicable, the author, performer, maker or broadcaster of the work.
4.8 Do I need to ask permission to link to a website?
Generally no, but you should check the website’s ‘Terms of Use’ section to verify specific linking prohibitions. You should also include the full details of the author, copyright owner and source of the material by the link on your webpage. This will avoid any suggestion that the website is your own material or that your website is somehow affiliated with the other site. You should also avoid linking to websites that you feel are illegally sharing copyright protected materials or do not appear to be legitimate.
4.9 May I post examples of my students’ work on my Western’s learning or course management system?
Yes, but only if you have obtained the student’s permission. It is a good practice to ask students in advance whether they consent to have their work posted onto Western’s learning management systems and keep written records of the permissions given.
However, if the student’s work contains third party copyrighted materials, you will also need to determine whether you or the student need to obtain consent from the copyright owner to post the materials into Western’s LMS or whether the materials fall within the Fair Dealing Guidelines. Follow Western’s Fair Dealing Analysis to apply the fair dealing exception to particular situations.
4.10 I adopted a textbook for my course, and the book representative gave me instructional materials, including images, PowerPoint files, etc. Can I distribute any of those materials to my students on paper or in my Western learning or course management system?
Portions of the materials that are accordance with Western’s Fair Dealing Guidelines, may be distributed as a class handout or posted onto Western’s secure LMS. Follow Western’s Fair Dealing Analysis to apply the fair dealing exception to particular situations.
You may need to check with your textbook representative for further information on this matter.
Unless otherwise indicated, content on Western's copyright website is licensed under
a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International Licence.
Created 03/21/2014
Updated
Content adapted with permission from UBC’s Digital Classroom FAQ
