It’s Fair Dealing Week, a celebration of a key legal right in Canada’s copyright law that serves the public interest.

Fair dealing is particularly important for students and educators, as a legal tool that allows the sharing and use of scholarly and learning materials inside and outside of the classroom (within limits).

Canadian copyright law has been described by the Supreme Court as “a balance between promoting the public interest in the encouragement and dissemination of works of the arts and intellect and obtaining a just reward for the creator.”

As a part of this balance, it is important to recognize that the Copyright Act gives rights both to creators and to users.  The broadest and most general “users’ right” is the right to fair dealing, which allows the use of copyright-protected works, without needing permission, for the purposes of research, private study, criticism, review, news reporting, parody, satire, and education, as long as that use is fair.

The law around fair dealing has changed substantially over the past few years – the purposes of parody, satire and education were only added in 2012, and the Supreme Court of Canada has handed down several important decisions that have clarified and reaffirmed users’ rights in the Copyright Act.

For Fair Dealing Week, everyone is encouraged to discuss the meaning and importance of fair dealing in blogs, videos and social media.

For more information on copyright and guidance on how to use fair dealing for your educational needs, see Brock’s Copyright page and Fair Dealing Policy. If you have any questions about your copyright rights and responsibilities, contact copyright@brocku.ca.