Copyright for Students

Educational exceptions in the Copyright Act allow specific uses of copyrighted work for educational purposes, without payment or permission from the copyright owner, provided certain conditions are met. 

Note: The library subscribes to digital resources, use of which are governed by license agreements with content providers. Licenses take precedent over legislative allowances. 

For more information on licenses, please visit the Copyright for Instructors - License Terms-of-Use page.

Explore the educational exceptions below:

• Publicly available materials on the internet
• Copying for instruction (classroom display)
• Copying for tests and exams
• Performing a copyright-protected work
• Copying a news program for classroom use
• Showing DVDs and videos
• Playing sound recordings

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Publicly available materials on the internet

Members of the Langara community (students, staff, and faculty) are permitted to reproduce, share, or stream works available through the internet, provided: 

• The use is for educational or training purposes
• The work is not protected by a digital lock or technological protection measure
• There is no clearly visible notice prohibiting use for educational purposes
• There is no suspicion that the work has been posted on the Internet without the consent of the copyright owner

The source and, if provided, the author, performer, maker, or broadcaster must be cited. 

Copyright Act, Section 30.04.

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Copying for instruction (classroom display)

Members of the Langara community (students, staff, and faculty) are permitted to reproduce copyright-protected works for display in class, such as lecture slides, for teaching and training purposes, provided the works are not commercially available in an appropriate format. 

Please note: what you can display in the classroom may be different from what you can distribute to students (e.g. as a handout or post in Brightspace by D2L). Before distributing presentation slides containing copyright-protected works by others, ensure that: 

• Access is limited to students enrolled in the course, and 
• Limits outlined in Langara's fair dealing guidelines are respected

Copyright Act, Section 29.4(1). 

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Copying for tests and exams

Members of the Langara community (students, staff, and faculty) are permitted to reproduce, translate, perform, or communicate electronically copyright-protected works for tests or exams, provided the works are not commercially available in an appropriate format.

Copyright Act, Section 29.4(2)

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Performing a copyright-protected work

Members of the Langara community (students, staff, and faculty) are permitted to give live performances of copyright-protected works, such as plays, provided:

• The performance takes place on campus
• The performance is for educational or training purposes
• The performance is not for profit
• The audience consists primarily of Langara students, faculty, and staff

Copyright Act, Section 29.5(a)

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Copying a news program for classroom use

Members of the Langara community (students, staff, and faculty) are permitted to make a single copy of a news program (excluding documentaries) for display, provided:

• The audience consists primarily of Langara students, faculty, and staff
• The copy was made at the time the program was aired by the broadcaster or communicated over the Internet

Copyright Act, Section 29.6(1)

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Showing DVDs and videos

Members of the Langara community (students, staff, and faculty) are permitted to show DVDs and videos on campus without permission or Public Performance Rights, provided:

• The performance is for educational or training purposes
• The performance is not for profit
• The audience consists primarily of Langara students, staff, and faculty
• The copy is legally acquired

For non-educational uses of media on campus, please refer to our Copyright for Staff - College Events page.

Copyright Act, Section 29.5(d)

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Playing sound recordings

Members of the Langara community (students, staff, and faculty) are permitted to play sound recordings on campus without permission, provided:

• The performance is for educational or training purposes
• The performance is not for profit
• The audience consists primarily of Langara students, faculty, and staff
• The copy is legally acquired

For non-educational uses of media on campus, please refer to our Copyright for Staff - College Events page.

Copyright Act, Section 29.5(b)

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Questions? Contact the Copyright Office. 

General Queries:

copyright@langara.ca