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Copyright Information for Faculty

Prepared by the Copyright Advisory Office at Queen's University, this guide provides copyright information that will be useful to to anyone involved in teaching in the classroom or online, curriculum development, and the construction of course sites.

Introduction to Copyright in the Classroom

The information on this page is intended for Queen's faculty and addresses the following: 

- Faculty-Created Content, 

- Handouts from Print Sources, 

- Handouts from Online Sources, 

- Slides and Images, 

- Textbooks and Publisher-Issued Supplemental and Instructional Materials, 

- Coursepacks, 

- Open Educational Resources, 

- Audio Recordings, 

- Music and Sheet Music, 

- Films and Videos, 

- Quizzes, Tests, and Exams, 

- Ed Tech Tools, 

- Guest Lecturers, 

- Student Works, and 

- Alternate Formats for Students. 

The information on this page seeks to address the uses of copyright-protected works and content in the classroom. A Classroom Checklist is available below to assist with copyright compliance before a course starts. 

Information that addresses the uses of copyright-protected works and content in course sites, during online classes, and during recorded lectures is available on our Copyright in Course Sites page. For ease of use, we've also organized this information by content type on our Categories of Content page and our Quick Reference Guide (Faculty Edition) is available below. 

If you're looking for information about a specific use of content or a specific type of content that has not been addressed within the pages of this guide, please let us know as we would be happy to make that information available. 

If you have any questions or need assistance, please contact the Copyright Advisory Office: qcopy@queensu.ca

Faculty-Created Content

The content that faculty create for the facilitation of their courses is protected by copyright and Queen's faculty retain the rights (economic and moral rights) to the content that they create. Examples of this content include: course outlines, handouts, assignment templates, slides, lecture notes, and any media that faculty produce. This faculty-created content may include text, images, links, embedded media, etc. but it's important to note that incorporating such content into faculty-created content does not result in the rights to such content being transferred to faculty; the rights to such content will remain with each piece of content's copyright owner. As such, appropriate exceptions in the Copyright Act, the Fair Dealing Requirements for Educational Copying (Appendix A of Queen's University's Copyright Compliance and Administration Policy), and applicable licenses or terms of use/service, should be adhered to. Please see the information below and consult our Categories of Content page for information about specific types of content and how to appropriately incorporate them into faculty-created content. *Please note that it is important for both copyright-related reasons and academic purposes to acknowledge the authors and sources of content, by way of attribution statements, citations, or credit lines, whenever such content is incorporated into faculty-created content.* 

Faculty-created content can be distributed and displayed to students in the classroom at the faculty member's discretion

As Queen's faculty retain the rights (economic and moral rights) to the content that they create, it is recommended that faculty consider making the following information visible on or included within their faculty-created content: 

(c) [year], Prepared by [name of faculty member], Professor, Queen's University [email address] for use in [course, term]. 

A Creative Commons license could be applied at the faculty member's discretion, please see the Creative Commons Licenses section on our Authors' Rights & Course Materials page (a Creative Commons license would apply only to the faculty-created content, not to any incorporated content), or the line above could be accompanied by a statement addressing the use of the faculty-created content within the course and/or program as well as the reproduction, distribution, and communication of the faculty-created content online and outside the course and/or program. 

Example: This slide deck is protected by copyright and was prepared for use within [course, term] by students enrolled in the course. The reproduction, distribution, and communication of this slide deck online and outside of [course, term] is not permitted without permission from [name of faculty member], Professor, Queen's University [email address].

The Copyright Advisory Office offers a Takedown Notice service for Queen's faculty who have found their faculty-created content on course content sharing sites like Course Hero and StuDocU and would like their faculty-created content removed from such sites. For information about this service, please see our page linked above or contact the Copyright Advisory Office for assistance: qcopy@queensu.ca.   

Handouts from Print Sources

Handouts from Print Sources (General)

Handouts that consist of content reproduced from print sources may be produced and distributed in the classroom to students enrolled in a course in accordance with the Fair Dealing Requirements for Educational Copying (Appendix A of Queen's University's Copyright Compliance and Administration Policy). A handout may consist of a short excerpt from a copyright-protected material or work. The Fair Dealing Requirements define 'a short excerpt' as follows: 

a. a single page range of up to 10% of a copyright-protected material or work; 

b. one chapter from a book; 

c. a single article from an issue or volume of a periodical; 

d. an entire artistic work (including a painting, print, photograph, diagram, drawing, map, chart, and plan) from a copyright-protected material or work containing other artistic works; 

e. an entire newspaper article or page from a day's or week's print newspaper; 

f. an entire single poem or musical score from a copyright-protected material or work containing other poems or musical scores; or 

g. an entire entry from an encyclopedia, annotated bibliography, dictionary, or similar reference work; 

provided that, in each case, no more of the copyright-protected material or work is reproduced in order to achieve the allowable purpose. 

*An attribution statement acknowledging the author and source of the short excerpt should be visible on the reproduced short excerpt that is distributed in the classroom to students enrolled in the course.*

Additional information about short excerpts is available in the Short Excerpts Explained section on our Overview of Fair Dealing page

The Fair Dealing Requirements permit the reproduction and distribution in the classroom of a single short excerpt from a copyright-protected material or work. If you need to reproduce multiple short excerpts from the same copyright-protected material or work, one single short excerpt would be reproduced and distributed in the classroom in accordance with the Fair Dealing Requirements and any additional short excerpts would require authorization or permission from the copyright owner. Queen's faculty are encouraged to use the Copyright Advisory Office's Permission & Licensing service

Government Documents and Publications

Federal government documents and publications are produced and compiled by the Government of Canada and are protected by Crown copyright. These documents and publications can be reproduced for education and training-related purposes if a specific attribution statement that identifies the Government of Canada as the source, acknowledges Crown copyright, and acknowledges that the reproduction is not the original version, is visible on the reproduced document or publication.

Example: Government of Canada, (c) His Majesty the King in Right of Canada, [publication date]. This is a reproduction of [title of document or publication], this is not the original version.

Provincial and Territorial print materials are protected by Crown copyright which is held by the King's Printer for the Province or Territory. These print materials can be reproduced for education and training-related purposes if a specific attribution statement that credits the Provincial or Territorial print material, acknowledges Crown copyright, and acknowledges that the reproduction is not the original version, is visible on the reproduced print material.

Example: [Title of  print material], (c) King's Printer for [Province or Territory], [publication date]. This is a reproduction of [title of print material], this is not the original version. 

Case Studies

Licenses from publishers are required in order to reproduce and distribute case studies, or copies of them, to students in the classroom. Queen's faculty are encouraged to use the Copyright Advisory Office's Permissions & Licensing service

 

Queen's faculty are encouraged to use Queen's University Library's Course Reserves service if they intend to make copies of handouts from print sources available to students through their course sites. 

If you have questions or concerns about handouts from print sources, please contact the Copyright Advisory Office for assistance: qcopy@queensu.ca.  

Handouts from Online Sources

Handouts from Publicly Accessible Online Sources (General)

Handouts that consist of content reproduced from publicly accessible online sources can be produced and distributed in the classroom to students enrolled in the course in accordance with section 30.04 of the Copyright Act. Section 30.04 is an exception that permits the use of publicly accessible online content for educational purposes. In order to make use of this exception, the following conditions must be met: 

- the content must be publicly accessible (you must be able to access the content without creating an account, logging in to a website, subscribing to a website, platform, or online service, or paying any fees); 

- the content must be legitimate (not an infringing copy) and must have been made available online to the public by the copyright owner (consult verified accounts and trusted websites, consider the validity of the usernames of those who posted or uploaded the content, and avoid content that is accompanied by disclaimers that state 'no copyright infringement intended'); 

- the content must not be accompanied by clearly visible copyright notices that prohibit educational or non-commercial use; 

- access to and use of the content must not be restricted by technological protection measures or digital locks (avoid images that have been watermarked, avoid text that cannot be downloaded or copied and pasted, and avoid videos and music that cannot be played in your geographic location); and 

- *the author(s) and source of the content must be acknowledged when publicly accessible online content is reproduced and distributed to students.* 

Government Documents and Publications 

Federal government documents and publications are produced and compiled by the Government of Canada and are protected by Crown copyright. These documents and publications can be reproduced for education and training-related purposes if a specific attribution statement that identifies the Government of Canada as the source, acknowledges Crown copyright, and acknowledges that the reproduction is not the original version, is visible on the reproduced document or publication. 

Example: Government of Canada, (c) His Majesty the King in Right of Canada, [publication date]. This is a reproduction of [title of document or publication], the original version is available online: [url]. 

Provincial and Territorial digital materials are protected by Crown copyright which is held by the King's Printer for the Province or Territory. These digital materials can be reproduced for education and training-related purposes if a specific attribution statement that credits the Provincial or Territorial digital material, acknowledges Crown copyright, and acknowledges that the reproduction is not the original version, is visible on the reproduced digital material. 

Example: [Title of digital material], (c) King's Printer for [Province or Territory], [publication date]. This is a reproduction of [title of digital material], the original version is available online: [url]. 

Creative Commons-Licensed Content and Works 

Creative Commons-licensed content and works are protected by copyright. Authors of Creative Commons-licensed content and works have elected to employ Creative Commons licenses to pre-authorize the use of their copyright-protected content or works by permitting the exercising of some or all of their economic rights and retaining their moral right of attribution. There are seven Creative Commons licenses that permit specific uses of content and works and range from least to most restrictive. 

All seven Creative Commons licenses permit educational use but some licenses do not permit adaptations or the creation of derivative works such as incorporating components (ie blocks of text or images) from Creative Commons-licensed content and works into handouts or other course materials. 

The Creative Commons Licenses

CC 0: both moral and economic rights are waived. The content or work can be used without any restrictions but *the attribution right should be respected for academic purposes.* 

CC BY: economic rights are waived, the content or work can be used for both commercial and non-commercial purposes. *Respecting the attribution right is the only requirement.* 

CC BY-SA: economic rights are waived, the content or work can be used for both commercial and non-commercial purposes. *Respecting the attribution right is required* and any new content or work must be shared alike (must be made available through the use of a CC BY-SA license).  

CC BY-ND: most economic rights are waived, the content or work can be used for both commercial and non-commercial purposes but adaptations and the creation of derivative works are not permitted (content or work must be used as is). *Respecting the attribution right is required.* 

CC BY-NC: economic rights are waived, the content or work can be used for non-commercial purposes only (commercial use requires authorization or permission from the copyright owner). *Respecting the attribution right is required.* 

CC BY-NC-SA: economic rights are waived, the content or work can be used for non-commercial purposes only (commercial use requires authorization or permission from the copyright owner). *Respecting the attribution right is required* and any new content or work must be shared alike (must be made available through the use of a CC BY-NC-SA license). 

CC BY-NC-ND: economic rights are waived, the content or work can be used for non-commercial purposes only (commercial use requires authorization or permission from the copyright owner) but adaptations and the creation of derivative works are not permitted (content or work must be used as is). *Respecting the attribution right is required.*  

If you have questions about Creative Commons-licensed content or works, please contact the Copyright Advisory Office for assistance: qcopy@queensu.ca

Library-licensed Content and Works 

Queen's University Library has licensed the use of content and works, such as eBooks, journal articles, and discipline-specific eResources, for educational use by Queen's faculty, students, researchers, and staff. Library-licensed content and works are available through databases and can be accessed through the use of search tools. In many cases, handouts can be produced (printed) and distributed in the classroom to students enrolled in the course. There may be some restrictions in place, such as the number of pages that can be printed from an eBook or that printed copies of articles cannot be scanned and posted or uploaded to course sites (such copies would be in violation of license agreements as they would compete with the original digital content and works within the databases).

If you have questions about databases and their permitted uses and restrictions, please consult our License Information page or contact the Copyright Advisory Office for assistance: qcopy@queensu.ca

Subscription-based Content 

Websites, platforms, and online services that require the creation of accounts, logging in, subscriptions, or the payment of fees are not publicly accessible online sources of content. These websites, platforms, and online services are outside of the scope of section 30.04 of the Copyright Act. The use of content from these websites, platforms, and online services is governed by their Terms of Use or Terms of Service that are agreed to or accepted when accounts are created or subscriptions are initiated. The Terms of Use or Terms of Service will include sections that address intellectual property and permitted uses and these sections will either permit or prohibit the educational use of content within (shared to, posted to, uploaded to, transmitted through, stored within, etc.) the website, platform, or online service. Before incorporating content from such websites, platforms, or online services into handouts that you intend to distribute in the classroom to students enrolled in the course, please consult the Terms of Use or Terms of Service that you agreed to or accepted. 

Social Media

Content from social media platforms (Facebook, Instagram, X, etc.) can be incorporated into handouts that you intend to distribute in the classroom to students enrolled in the course if you have an account with the respective social media platform. When you created your account, you would have agreed to or accepted the social media platform's Terms of Use or Terms of Service and, by doing so, you would have granted the social media platform and its users some or all of the economic rights to the content that you make available through (share to, post to, upload to, transmit through, store within, etc.) that social media platform. This means that others can make use of your content but it also means that you can make use of their content. At your discretion, and if you have accounts with social media platforms, you can incorporate content from social media platforms into handouts that you intend to distribute in the classroom to students enrolled in the course. *The username of the account that posted/shared the content, the date that the content was posted/shared, and the name of the social media platform should be acknowledged by way of an attribution statement, citation, or credit line when content from social media platforms is reproduced and distributed to students.* 

Case Studies 

Licenses from publishers are required in order to reproduce and distribute case studies, or copies of them, in the classroom to students enrolled in the course. Queen's faculty are encouraged to use the Copyright Advisory Office's Permissions & Licensing service

 

Queen's faculty are encouraged to use Queen's University Library's Course Reserves service if they intend to make copies of handouts from online sources available to students through their course sites. 

If you have questions or concerns about handouts from online sources, please contact the Copyright Advisory Office for assistance: qcopy@queensu.ca.  

Slides and Images

Content from Print Sources 

Slides that consist of content reproduced from print sources can be produced and displayed to students in the classroom in accordance with section 29.4(1) of the Copyright Act. Section 29.4(1) is an exception that permits the reproduction of a copyright-protected work in order to display it. In order to make use of this exception, the following conditions must be met: 

- the copyright-protected work is reproduced for education or training-related purposes; 

- the copyright-protected work is reproduced by an educational institution or a person acting under its authority;

- the display of the copyright-protected work occurs on the premises of the educational institution; 

- the copyright-protected work is not already commercially available in a medium that is appropriate for the purpose of display; and 

- *the author(s) and source of the copyright-protected work must be acknowledged when content from print sources is reproduced and displayed to students.* 

Content from Textbooks and Publisher-Issued Supplemental and Instructional Materials 

When a textbook has been adopted as required for a course and students are expected to purchase the textbook, the faculty member will often have permission from the textbook's publisher to make use of content within the textbook, and the supplemental and instructional materials that accompany and support the textbook, in order to facilitate the course. Slide decks and image banks are publisher-issued supplemental and instructional materials. Slide decks can generally be used as issued by the publisher and content can be added to them (in accordance with information provided within this Slides and Images section of our Copyright in the Classroom page). Publisher-issued slide decks will include copyright notices that identify the publisher as the copyright owner. These copyright notices should not be modified, removed, or obstructed by content that faculty add to the slide decks. *Attribution statements should accompany any content that is added to publisher-issued slide decks so as to acknowledge the author(s) and source(s) of that content and to differentiate it from the publisher's content.* 

Please note that if, in an upcoming term, you adopt a new edition of the textbook, you may be required by the publisher to make use of the slide decks that accompany and support that new edition and cease use of the slide decks that accompanied and supported the previous edition. Similarly, if you adopt a different publisher's textbook, you would be required by both publishers to use the slide decks that accompany and support the newly adopted textbook and cease use of the slide decks that accompanied and supported the textbook that had previously been adopted.

The Copyright Advisory Office has consulted with the publishers whose textbooks are sold through the Campus Bookstore at Queen's University and Smith Materials Management. The list linked below outlines the publishers' specific grants of permission and considerations for publisher-issued supplemental and instructional materials that accompany and support their textbooks that are adopted as required for courses at Queen's University. If the publisher of the textbook that you have adopted as required is not listed or if your use of supplemental and instructional materials is outside of the scope of the publisher's grant of permission and considerations, please contact the Copyright Advisory Office: qcopy@queensu.ca.  

Content from Online Sources 

Content from publicly accessible online sources can be reproduced and incorporated into slides that are displayed to students in the classroom in accordance with section 30.04 of the Copyright Act. Section 30.04 is an exception that permits the use of publicly accessible online content for educational purposes. In order to make use of this exception, the following conditions must be met: 

- the content must be publicly accessible (you must be able to access the content without creating an account, logging in to a website, subscribing to a website, platform, or online service, or paying any fees); 

- the content must be legitimate (not an infringing copy) and must have been made available online to the public by the copyright owner (consult with verified accounts and trusted websites, consider the validity of the usernames of those who posted or uploaded the content, and avoid content that is accompanied by disclaimers that state 'no copyright infringement intended'); 

- the content must not be accompanied by clearly visible copyright notices that prohibit educational or non-commercial use; 

- access to and use of the content must not be restricted by technological protection measures or digital locks (avoid images that have been watermarked, avoid text that cannot be downloaded or copied and pasted, and avoid content that cannot be played in your geographic location); and 

- *the author(s) and source of the content must be acknowledged when publicly accessible online content is reproduced and displayed to students.* 

Google Advanced Image Searches

In order to make use of the exception in section 30.04 of the Copyright Act, the five conditions listed above must be met: (1) the content must be publicly accessible; (2) the content must be legitimate and must have been made available online to the public by the copyright owner; (3) the content must not be accompanied by clearly visible copyright notices that prohibit educational or non-commercial use; (4) access to and use of the content must not be restricted by technological protection measures or digital locks; and (5) *the author(s) and source of the content must be acknowledged.* Images that are found through a typical Google Image Search need to be assessed so as to determine whether conditions 1, 2, 3, and 4 can be met and, if so, *they must then be accompanied by attribution statements when incorporated into slide decks in order to meet condition 5.* Conducting a Google Advanced Image Search allows for a filter to be used so that images that meet conditions 1, 2, 3, and 4 can be found. *Once an image is selected from these search results and incorporated into a slide deck, it would then need to be accompanied by an attribution statement so as to meet condition 5.* 

To conduct a Google Advanced Image Search, enter the same keywords that would be used in a typical Google Image Search into the first field (all these words) and then drop the menu down to 'Creative Commons licenses' in the last field (usage rights). The fields in between the first and last fields can be left blank or they can be populated at a faculty member's discretion. The results page will display images that meet the search criteria. Please keep in mind that Google Advanced Image Search is the service being used to find images, it is not the source of the images that are found or selected for use. *The webpage on which a selected image is publicly accessible online will need to be visited in order to access the image for use and collect information (author (if known), source, and url) for the attribution statement (acknowledgement, citation, or credit line) that will accompany the image when it is reproduced and incorporated into the slide deck that will be displayed to students in the classroom.* 

The graphic below demonstrates how to conduct a Google Advanced Image Search

Creative Commons-licensed Images and Library-licensed Image Collections

The Images from Online Sources chart linked below was prepared by the Copyright Advisory Office in an effort to address questions frequently asked by Queen's faculty. The chart includes links to image search tools, with information about conducting searches, online and Creative Commons-licensed image collections, with information about the scope of use and attribution statements, and library-licensed image collections, with descriptions of the collections and information about the scope of use and attribution statements. Creative Commons-licensed images can be used for educational purposes and, in many cases, images from library-licensed image collections can be incorporated into handouts, slides, quizzes, tests, and exams that are distributed and displayed in the classroom

If you come across an image, from any online source, that you would like to use but have questions or concerns about whether and how that image can be used, please contact the Copyright Advisory Office for assistance: qcopy@queensu.ca

Subscription-based Content 

Websites, platforms, and online services that require the creation of accounts, logging in, subscriptions, or the payment of fees are not publicly accessible online sources of content. These websites, platforms, and online services are outside of the scope of section 30.04 of the Copyright Act. The use of content from these websites, platforms, and online services is governed by their Terms of Use or Terms of Service that are agreed to or accepted when accounts are created or subscriptions are initiated. The Terms of Use or Terms of Service will include sections that address intellectual property and permitted uses and these sections will either permit or prohibit the educational use of content within (shared to, posted to, uploaded to, transmitted through, stored within, etc.) the website, platform, or online service. Before incorporating content from such websites, platforms, or online services into slide decks that you intend to display to students in the classroom, please consult the Terms of Use or Terms of Service that you agreed to or accepted. 

Social Media

Content from social media platforms (Facebook, Instagram, X, etc.) can be incorporated into slide decks that you intend to display to students in the classroom if you have an account with the respective social media platform. When you created your account, you would have agreed to or accepted the social media platform's Terms of Use or Terms of Service and, by doing so, you would have granted the social media platform and its users some or all of the economic rights to the content that you make available through (share to, post to, upload to, transmit through, store within, etc.) that social media platform. This means that others can make use of your content but it also means that you can make use of their content. At your discretion, and if you have accounts with social media platforms, you can incorporate content from social media platforms into slides that you intend to display to students in the classroom*The username of the account that posted/shared the content, the date that the content was posted/shared, and the name of the social media platform should be acknowledged by way of an attribution statement, citation, or credit line when content from social media platforms is reproduced and displayed to students.* 

*Attribution Statements in Slides*

Images from any source should be accompanied by attribution statements when they're reproduced and incorporated into slide decks that are intended to be displayed to students in the classroom. Attribution statements should acknowledge the authors (artists, photographers, graphic designers, etc.) of the images and the sources of the images. Attribution statements can be credit lines or citations (the Copyright Act requires attribution statements but does not prescribe specific citation styles or formats). Ideally, attribution statements should accompany the images on the slides on which they appear. If you are using numerous images and space on the slides is limited, the images could be numbered and a corresponding numbered list of attribution statements could be made available on the last slide(s) in the slide deck - similar to references at the end of an article or credits at the end of a film. The attribution statements must be within the slide deck so that the images within the slide deck can be associated with their authors and sources. The attribution statements should not be within a different document or file even if the document/file and the slide deck have the same name or are available to students alongside each other within a course site. 

 

Slide decks that are assembled in accordance with the information provided above can be displayed to students in the classroom and can be distributed, displayed, and communicated to students via course sites, during online classes, and during recorded lectures. 

For more information about slide decks and images within course sites and during online classes and recorded lectures, please consult our Copyright in Course Sites and Categories of Content pages.  

If you have questions about slide decks or images, please contact the Copyright Advisory Office for assistance: qcopy@queensu.ca.  

Textbooks + Publisher-Issued Supplemental & Instructional Materials

When a textbook has been adopted as required for a course and students are expected to purchase the textbook, the faculty member will often have permission from the textbook's publisher to make use of content within the textbook and the supplemental and instructional materials that accompany and support the textbook in order to facilitate the course. Instructor's manuals, slide decks, image banks, and test banks are examples of publisher-issued supplemental and instructional materials. *Whenever content from these materials is incorporated into handouts, slide decks, etc., that content should be accompanied by attribution statements that acknowledge the author(s) of the textbook, the title of the textbook, the edition of the textbook, and the publisher of the textbook.* 

Slide decks can generally be used as issued by the publisher and content can be added to them (in accordance with information provided in our Slides and Images section above and on our Categories of Content page). Publisher-issued slide decks will include copyright notices that identify the publisher and copyright owner. These copyright notices should not be modified, removed, or obstructed by content that faculty add to the slide decks. *Attribution statements should accompany any content that is added to publisher-issued slide decks so as to acknowledge the author(s) and source(s) of that content and to differentiate it from the publisher's content.*

Publishers and instructors are very protective of the content within test banks as the breach of content from these banks can adversely effect the integrity of the banks themselves and the quizzes, tests, and exams into which the content has been incorporated. Please exercise caution when preparing review materials for students and returning evaluated quizzes, tests, and exams to students. 

Please note that if, in an upcoming term, you adopt a new edition of the textbook, you may be required by the publisher to make use of the supplemental and instructional materials that accompany and support that new edition and cease use of the materials that accompanied and supported the previous edition. Similarly, if you adopt a different publisher's textbook, you would be required by both publishers to use the supplemental and instructional materials that accompany and support the newly adopted textbook and cease use of the materials that accompanied and supported the textbook that had previously been adopted. 

The Copyright Advisory Office has consulted with the publishers whose textbooks are sold through the Campus Bookstore at Queen's University and Smith Materials Management. The list below outlines the publishers' specific grants of permission and considerations for publisher-issued supplemental and instructional materials that accompany and support their textbooks that are adopted as required for courses at Queen's University. If the publisher of the textbook that you have adopted as required is not listed or if your use of supplemental and instructional materials is outside of the scope of your textbook publisher's grant of permission and considerations, please contact the Copyright Advisory Office: qcopy@queensu.ca

Coursepacks

The Campus Bookstore at Queen's University and the AMS Printing & Copying Centre are the two providers of coursepack-related services at Queen's University. Both of these organizations operate independently from Queen's University and both operate under Access Copyright licenses to clear copyright for the reproduction and sale of content within coursepacks. These licenses prohibit further reproduction of this content so content within coursepacks cannot be reproduced and distributed in the classroom to students enrolled in the course and cannot be reproduced and communicated via a course site to students enrolled in the course.  

Coursepacks are available in print format only and cannot be placed on reserve in any of the Queen's University Library locations. Queen's faculty who are interested in creating a digital coursepack, a package of digital copies of course readings that are available within their course sites (instead of within a print format coursepack), are encouraged to use Queen's University Library's Course Reserves service

Open Educational Resources

Queen's University Library's Open Educational Resources page and Open Educational Resources Guide include detailed information about the use, adaptation, and development of Open Educational Resources. 

Audio Recordings

This section is intended to address audio recordings, such as recordings of recited works and delivered lectures or speeches, conducted interviews, podcasts, and audio books. For information about music, please see the section below which addresses Music and Sheet Music. 

Audio Recordings in Physical Formats

Audio recordings in physical formats can be performed in the classroom for students enrolled in a course in accordance with section 29.5 of the Copyright Act. Section 29.5 is an exception that permits the performance of sound recordings for educational purposes. In order to make use of this exception, the following conditions must be met: 

- the audio recording must be performed for educational purposes; 

- the performance of the audio recording must be facilitated by the person directly responsible for setting the curriculum; 

- the audio recording must be performed on the premises of the educational institution; 

- the audience must consist primarily of students; 

- the audio recording must not be performed for profit; and 

- the audio recording must not be an infringing copy of a sound recording. 

Section 29.5 of the Copyright Act is best applied to audio recordings that are available in a physical format: a cassette tape (ie a recording of a conducted interview), a vinyl record (ie a recording of a comedy album), or a compact disc (ie a recording of an audio book). 

Audio Recordings from Online Sources 

Audio recordings that are available through publicly accessible online sources can be performed/streamed in the classroom for students enrolled in the course in accordance with section 30.04 of the Copyright Act. Section 30.04 is an exception that permits the use of publicly accessible online content for educational purposes. In order to make use of this exception, the following conditions must be met: 

- the online source and the audio recording must be publicly accessible (you must be able to access the audio recording without creating an account, logging in to a website, subscribing to a website, platform, or online service, or paying any fees); 

- the audio recording must be legitimate (not an infringing copy) and must have been made available online to the public by the copyright owner (consult verified accounts and trusted websites, consider the validity of the usernames of those who posted or uploaded the audio recording, and avoid audio recordings that are accompanied by disclaimers that state 'no copyright infringement intended'); 

- the audio recording must not be accompanied by clearly visible copyright notices that prohibit educational or non-commercial use; 

- access to and use of the audio recording must not be restricted by technological protection measures or digital locks (avoid audio recordings that cannot be played in your geographic location); and 

- *the author(s) and source of the audio recording must be acknowledged when a publicly accessible online  audio recording is reproduced (ie downloaded) in order to perform/stream it for students.

Audio Recording Streaming Services 

Streaming services like Apple Podcasts and Amazon's Audible are legitimate online sources of audio recordings but they are not publicly accessible online sources of audio recordings. These streaming services are outside of the scope of section 30.04 of the Copyright Act. Subscriptions to these streaming services require accounts and agreements to or acceptance of Terms of Use or Terms of Service which restrict access to personal and household use. These streaming services should not be used in the classroom

*Podcasts should be performed/streamed from their dedicated websites (if the websites are publicly accessible online sources). 

*Audio books, or excerpts from them, should be performed/streamed through library-licensed audio recording collections. 

Library-licensed Audio Recording Collections 

Queen's University Library has licensed the use of content and works including audio recordings, such as recordings of recited works and delivered lectures or speeches, conducted interviews, podcasts, and audio books, for educational use by Queen's faculty, students, researchers, and staff. Library-licensed content and works are available through databases and can be accessed through the use of search tools. Audio recordings from library-licensed audio recording collections can be performed/streamed in the classroom.  

If you come across an audio recording, from any online source, that you would like to use but have questions or concerns about whether and how that audio recording can be used, please contact the Copyright Advisory Office for assistance: qcopy@queensu.ca

Music and Sheet Music

Music in Physical Formats

Music in physical formats can be performed in the classroom for students enrolled in a course in accordance with section 29.5 of the Copyright Act. Section 29.5 is an exception that permits the performance of music for educational purposes. In order to make use of this exception, the following conditions must be met: 

- the music must be performed for educational or training-related purposes;

- the performance of the music must be facilitated by the person directly responsible for setting the curriculum; 

- the music must be performed on the premises of the educational institution; 

- the audience must consist primarily of students; 

- the music must not be performed for profit; and  

- the music being performed must not be an infringing copy of a sound recording.

Section 29.5 of the Copyright Act is best applied to music that is available in a physical format: a cassette tape, a vinyl record, or a compact disc. 

Music from Online Sources

Music that is available through publicly accessible online sources can be performed/streamed in the classroom for students enrolled in the course in accordance with section 30.04 of the Copyright Act. Section 30.04 is an exception that permits the use of publicly accessible online content for educational purposes. In order to make use of this exception, the following conditions must be met: 

- the online source and the music must be publicly accessible (you must be able to access the music without creating an account, logging in to a website, subscribing to a website, platform, or online service, or paying any fees); 

- the music must be legitimate (not an infringing copy) and must have been made available online to the public by the copyright owner (consult verified accounts and trusted websites, consider the validity of the usernames of those who posted or uploaded the music, and avoid music that is accompanied by disclaimers that state 'no copyright infringement intended'); 

- the music must not be accompanied by clearly visible copyright notices that prohibit educational or non-commercial use; 

- access to and use of the music must not be restricted by technological protection measures or digital locks (avoid music that cannot be played in your geographic location); and 

- *the author(s) and source of the music must be acknowledged when publicly accessible online music is reproduced (ie downloaded) in order to perform/stream it for students.* 

Music Streaming Services

Streaming services like Spotify, Amazon Music, Apple Music, etc. are legitimate online sources of music but they are not publicly accessible online sources of music. These streaming services are outside of the scope of section 30.04 of the Copyright Act. Subscriptions to these streaming services require accounts and agreements to or acceptance of Terms of Use or Terms of Service which restrict access to personal and household use. These streaming services should not be used in the classroom

Creative Commons-licensed Music and Library-licensed Music Collections

The chart linked below was prepared by the Copyright Advisory Office in an effort to address questions frequently asked by Queen's faculty. The first page of the chart includes links to online sources of Creative Commons-licensed music, with information about the scope of use and attribution statements, as well as library-licensed music collections with descriptions of the collections and information about the scope of use. Creative Commons-licensed music and music from library-licensed music collections can be performed/streamed in the classroom.

If you come across music, from any online source, that you would like to use but have questions or concerns about whether and how that music can be used, please contact the Copyright Advisory Office for assistance: qcopy@queensu.ca

The graphic below illustrates whether music from various sources can be performed/streamed for students in the classroom. 

If you come across music that you would like to use but have questions or concerns about whether and how that music can be used, please contact the Copyright Advisory Office for assistance: qcopy@queensu.ca

Print Sheet Music

Sheet music from print sources may be reproduced and distributed in the classroom as handouts in accordance with the Fair Dealing Requirements for Educational Copying (Appendix A of Queen's University's Copyright Compliance and Administration Policy). A handout may consist of a short excerpt from a copyright-protected material or work. The Fair Dealing Requirements define 'a short excerpt' as follows:

f. an entire musical score from a copyright-protected material or work containing other musical scores;

provided that, in each case, no more of the copyright-protected material or work is reproduced in order to achieve the allowable purpose.

*An attribution statement acknowledging the author and source of the short excerpt should be visible on the reproduced short excerpt that is distributed in the classroom as a handout to students enrolled in the course.*

Additional information about short excerpts is available in the Short Excerpts Explained section on our Overview of Fair Dealing page.

The Fair Dealing Requirements permit the reproduction of a single short excerpt from a copyright-protected material or work. If you need to reproduce multiple short excerpts from the same copyright-protected material or work, one short excerpt would be reproduced in accordance with the Fair Dealing Requirements and any additional short excerpts would require authorization or permission from the copyright owner. Queen's faculty are encouraged to use the Copyright Advisory Office's Permissions & Licensing service.

If a musical score is published individually, 'a short excerpt' from that individually published musical score could be reproduced and distributed in the classroom as a handout to students enrolled in the course in accordance with the Fair Dealing Policy but authorization or permission from the copyright owner would be required to reproduce and distribute the entire individually published musical score. As mentioned above, Queen's faculty are encouraged to use the Copyright Advisory office's Permission & Licensing service.   

Queen's faculty are encouraged to use Queen's University Library's Course Reserves service if they intend to make short excerpts from copyright-protected material and works available to students through their course sites. 

Sheet Music from Online Sources 

Sheet music that is available through publicly accessible online sources can be reproduced, distributed, and displayed in the classroom to students enrolled in the course in accordance with section 30.04 of the Copyright Act. Section 30.04 is an exception that permits the use of publicly accessible online content for educational purposes. In order to make use of this exception, the following conditions must be met: 

- the online source and the sheet music must be publicly accessible (you must be able to access the sheet music without creating an account, logging in to a website, subscribing to a website, platform, or online service, or paying any fees); 

- the sheet music must be legitimate (not an infringing copy) and must have been made available online to the public by the copyright owner (consult verified accounts and trusted websites, consider the validity of the usernames of those who posted or uploaded the sheet music, and avoid sheet music that is accompanied by disclaimers that state 'no copyright infringement intended'); 

- the sheet music must not be accompanied by clearly visible copyright notices that prohibit educational or non-commercial use; 

- access to and use of the sheet music must not be restricted by technological protection measures or digital locks (avoid sheet music that has been watermarked, avoid sheet music that cannot be downloaded or copied and pasted, and avoid sheet music that cannot be accessed in your geographic location); and 

- *the author(s) and source of the sheet music must be acknowledged when publicly accessible online sheet music is reproduced, distributed, and displayed to students.* 

Queen's faculty are encouraged to use Queen's University Library's Course Reserves service if they intend to make sheet music from online sources available to students through their course sites.

Creative Commons-licensed Sheet Music and Library-licensed Sheet Music Collections 

The chart linked below was prepared by the Copyright Advisory Office in an effort to address questions frequently asked by Queen's faculty. The second page of the chart includes links to online sources of public domain and Creative Commons-licensed collections of sheet music, with information about the scope of use and attribution statements, as well as library-licensed collections of sheet music, with information about the scope of use and attribution statements. Public domain and Creative Commons-licensed sheet music can be reproduced, distributed, and displayed in the classroom to students enrolled in the course. Sheet music from library-licensed sheet music collections can also be reproduced, distributed, and displayed in the classroom to students enrolled in the course.

Queen's faculty are encouraged to use Queen's University Library's Course Reserves service if they intend to make persistent links to sheet music from library-licensed collections available to students through their course sites.

If you come across sheet music, from any source, that you would like to use but have questions or concerns about whether and how that sheet music can be used, please contact the Copyright Advisory Office for assistance: qcopy@queensu.ca

 

Films and Videos

Films in Physical Formats

Films in physical formats can be performed in the classroom for students enrolled in a course in accordance with section 29.5 of the Copyright Act. Section 29.5 is an exception that permits the performance of films for educational purposes. In order to make use of this exception, the following conditions must be met: 

- the film must be performed for educational or training-related purposes; 

- the performance of the film must be facilitated by the person directly responsible for setting the curriculum; 

- the film must be performed on the premises of the educational institution; 

- the audience must consist primarily of students;

- the film must not be performed for profit; and

- the film being performed must not be an infringing copy of a cinematographic work (a film). 

Section 29.5 of the Copyright Act is best applied to films that are available in a physical format: a VHS tape, a DVD, or a Blu-ray disc. 

Films and Videos from Online Sources

Films and videos that are available through publicly accessible online sources can be performed/streamed in the classroom for students enrolled in the course in accordance with section 30.04 of the Copyright Act. Section 30.04 is an exception that permits the use of publicly accessible online content for educational purposes. In order to make use of this exception, the following conditions must be met: 

- the online source and the film/video must be publicly accessible (you must be able to access the film/video without creating an account, logging in to a website, subscribing to a website, platform, or online service, or paying any fees); 

- the film/video must be legitimate (not an infringing copy) and must have been made available online to the public by the copyright owner (consult verified accounts and trusted websites, consider the validity of the usernames of those who posted or uploaded the film/video, and avoid films/videos that are accompanied by disclaimers that state 'no copyright infringement intended'); 

- the film/video must not be accompanied by a clearly visible copyright notice that prohibits educational or non-commercial use; 

- access to and use of the film/video must not be restricted by technological protection measures or digital locks (avoid films/videos that cannot be played in your geographic location); and 

- *the author(s) and source of the film/video must be acknowledged when a publicly accessible online film/video is reproduced (ie downloaded) in order to perform/stream it in the classroom for students.* 

YouTube

YouTube is a publicly accessible online source of videos. You are not required to have a YouTube or Google account in order to access videos on YouTube. Before performing/streaming YouTube videos in the classroom, you must confirm that the videos are legitimate (not infringing copies); that the videos were made available on YouTube by the copyright owner (consult verified accounts, consider the validity of the usernames of those who posted or uploaded the videos, and avoid videos that are accompanied by disclaimers that state 'no copyright infringement intended'); and that use of the videos is not restricted by technological protection measures or digital locks (avoid videos that cannot be played in your geographic location). If you come across YouTube videos that you would like to use but have questions or concerns about whether or how the videos can be used, please contact the Copyright Advisory Office for assistance: qcopy@queensu.ca

Film and Video Streaming Services

Streaming services like Netflix, Amazon Prime, Disney+, HBO Max, Apple TV, Hulu, Crave, etc. are legitimate online sources of films/videos but they are not publicly accessible online sources of films/videos. These streaming services are outside of the scope of section 30.04 of the Copyright Act. Subscriptions to these streaming services require accounts and agreements to or acceptance of Terms of Use or Terms of Service which restrict access to personal and household use. These streaming services should not be used in the classroom

Library-licensed Film and Video Collections 

The chart linked below was prepared by the Copyright Advisory Office in an effort to address questions frequently asked by Queen's faculty. The chart includes links to library-licensed film and video collections with descriptions of the collections and information about the scope of use. Of the 38 collections listed, 31 may be used to perform/stream films and videos in the classroom and 1 may be used to perform/stream videos in classrooms within Faculty of Education courses only. The remaining 6 collections may be accessed and used for private study and research purposes only. As such, the word 'teaching' will be highlighted in the 'Scope of Use' column in cases where library-licensed film and video collections can be performed/streamed in the classroom.

The graphic below illustrates whether films and videos from various sources can be performed/streamed for students in the classroom. 

If you come across films or videos that you would like to use but have questions or concerns about whether and how that film or video can be used, please contact the Copyright Advisory Office for assistance: qcopy@queensu.ca

Quizzes, Tests and Exams

Content from Print Sources 

Quizzes, tests, and exams that consist of content reproduced from print sources can be distributed to students in the classroom in accordance with section 29.4(2) of the Copyright Act. Section 29.4(2) is an exception that permits the reproduction, translation, performance, and communication of a copyright-protected work as required for a quiz, test or examination. In order to make use of this exception, the following conditions must be met: 

- the copyright-protected work is reproduced, translated, performed, or communicated for education or training-related purposes; 

- the copyright-protected work is reproduced, translated, performed, or communicated by an educational institution or a person acting under its authority; 

- the quiz, test, or examination takes place on the premises of the educational institution; 

- the copyright-protected work is not already commercially available in a medium that is appropriate for the purpose of a quiz, test, or examination; and 

- *the author(s) and source of the copyright-protected work must be acknowledged when content from print sources is reproduced, translated, performed, or communicated as required for a quiz, test, or examination.*

Content from Online Sources 

Content from publicly accessible online sources can be reproduced and incorporated into quizzes, tests, and exams that are distributed to students in the classroom in accordance with section 30.04 of the Copyright Act. Section 30.04 is an exception that permits the use of publicly accessible online content for educational purposes. In order to make use of this exception, the following conditions must be met: 

- the content must be publicly accessible (you must be able to access the content without creating an account, logging in to a website, subscribing to a website, platform, or online service, or paying any fees); 

- the content must be legitimate (not an infringing copy) and must have been made available online to the public by the copyright owner (consult verified accounts and trusted websites, consider the validity of the usernames of those who posted or uploaded the content, and avoid content that is accompanied by disclaimers that state 'no copyright infringement intended'); 

- the content must not be accompanied by clearly visible copyright notices that prohibit educational or non-commercial use; 

- access to and use of the content must not be restricted by technological protection measures or digital locks (avoid images that have been watermarked, avoid text that cannot be downloaded or copied and pasted, and avoid music and videos that cannot be played in your geographic location); and 

- *the author(s) and source of the content must be acknowledged when publicly accessible online content is reproduced and incorporated into quizzes, tests, and examinations.* 

Content from Textbooks and Publisher-Issued Supplemental and Instructional Materials 

When a textbook has been adopted as required for a course and students are expected to purchase the textbook, the faculty member will often have permission from the textbook's publisher to make use of content within the textbook, and the supplemental and instructional materials that accompany and support the textbook, in order to facilitate the course. Instructor's manuals, slide decks, image banks, and test banks are examples of publisher-issued supplemental and instructional materials. *Whenever content from these materials is incorporated into quizzes, tests, and exams, that content should be accompanied by attribution statements that acknowledge the author(s) of the textbook, the title of the textbook, the edition of the textbook, and the publisher of the textbook.*

Publishers and instructors are very protective of content within test banks as the breach of content from these banks can adversely effect the integrity of the banks themselves and the quizzes, tests, and exams into which the content has been incorporated. Please exercise caution when preparing review materials for students and returning evaluated quizzes, tests, and exams to students. 

Please note that if, in an upcoming term, you adopt a new edition of a textbook, you may be required by the publisher to make use of the supplemental and instructional materials that accompany and support that new edition and cease use of the materials that accompanied and supported the previous edition. Similarly, if you adopt a different publisher's textbook, you would be required by both publishers to use the supplemental and instructional materials that accompany and support the newly adopted textbook and cease use of the materials that accompanied and supported the textbook that had previously been adopted. 

The Copyright Advisory Office has consulted with the publishers whose textbooks are sold through the Campus Bookstore at Queen's University and Smith Materials Management. The list below outlines the publishers' specific grants of permission and considerations for publisher-issued supplemental and instructional materials that accompany and support their textbooks that are adopted as required for courses at Queen's University. If the publisher of the textbook that you have adopted as required is not listed or if your use of supplemental and instructional materials is outside of the scope of your textbook publisher's grant of permission and considerations, please contact the Copyright Advisory Office: qcopy@queensu.ca

Case Studies 

Licenses from publishers are required in order to reproduce and distribute case studies, or copies of them, to students in the classroom. Licenses from publishers are also required in order to use case studies, or copies of them, during quizzes, tests, or exams. Queen's faculty are encouraged to use the Copyright Advisory Office's Permissions & Licensing service

 

If you have questions about the use of content, from any sources, within quizzes, tests, and exams, please contact the Copyright Advisory Office for assistance: qcopy@queensu.ca

Ed Tech Tools

The use of Ed Tech tools is governed by each tool's Terms of Use or Terms of Service. When a faculty member or a student creates an account to make use of an Ed Tech tool, they will agree to or accept the tool's Terms of Use or Terms of Service and, by doing so, they will grant the tool and its users some or all of the economic rights to the content that they make available through (share to, post to, upload to, transmit through, store within, etc.) that tool. This means that other users can make use of faculty members' and students' content but it also means that faculty members and students can make use of other users' content. When using or considering the use of these tools, it's important to be aware of how your content is treated and managed by the developers and operators of these tools as well as by any unknown third parties. Please exercise caution when making your content available through these tools and avoid making copyright-protected content and works available through these tools without authorization or permission from the copyright owners. 

An Ed Tech Toolkit has been made available by the Centre for Teaching and Learning at Queen's University. The list below was prepared by the Copyright Advisory Office for the Ed Tech Toolkit Working Group. The list includes reviews of numerous Ed Tech tools' Terms of Use or Terms of Service and highlights the treatment and management of intellectual property (content), whether and how artificial intelligence is used, and includes links to the tools' privacy policies and any available accessibility-related information. If you are using an Ed Tech tool that is or is not included in the list below and you have questions about that tool's Terms of Use or Terms of Service, please contact the Copyright Advisory Office: qcopy@queensu.ca

Guest Lecturers

When making arrangements for a guest lecturer to visit your classroom, although it is generally assumed, it is best to confirm that their lecture materials (handouts, slides, etc.) can be reproduced and distributed to students and colleagues and/or reproduced and communicated to students and colleagues through course sites and/or email. If you intend to record a guest lecturer's lecture, it would also be best to confirm with the guest lecturer that this can be done. This can often be done via an email exchange so that the guest lecturer's response can be kept for your records. Formal permission requests or grants of permission are not required for class visits. 

Guest lecturers' lecture materials should be prepared in accordance with Queen's University's Copyright Compliance and Administration Policy. You are welcome to direct guest lecturers to our Copyright in the Classroom, Copyright in Course Sites, and Categories of Content pages where they'll find detailed information about handouts, slides, and types and sources of content. Guest lecturers are welcome to consult with the Copyright Advisory Office if they have any questions: qcopy@queensu.ca

Student Works

Students retain the rights (economic and moral rights) to the works that they create. When students submit their work to instructors, they do so for the purpose of having their work evaluated by those instructors so that grades can be assigned and feedback can be provided. If a student's work is exemplary or exceptional and an instructor would like to share the student's work with other students in the class, with students in a future offering of the course, with colleagues, or to showcase the work of students so as to promote a course or program, written permission from the student will need to be obtained. This can often be done via an email exchange so that the student's response can be kept for your records. 

If students will be preparing presentations, seminars, etc., within your course, it would be best to indicate in the assignment instructions that their presentation/seminar materials (handouts, slides, etc.) will be distributed to students in the classroom and/or communicated to students through course sites and/or email. 

Students are encouraged to consult our Copyright Information for Students guide and they are welcome to contact the Copyright Advisory Office if they have any questions: qcopy@queensu.ca

Alternate Formats for Students

It's important to note that there is a difference between a copy of a copyright-protected work and an alternate format of a copyright-protected work. A copy of a copyright-protected work essentially serves the same purpose as the copyright-protected work but acts as a substitute for the copyright-protected work. Producing an alternate format does involve reproducing a copyright-protected work, or content from it, but that alternate format is serving a very specific purpose for someone's individual accessibility-related needs, a purpose that the copyright-protected work cannot serve. Neither the Copyright Act nor the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act include a definition of 'alternate format' but section 32 of the Copyright Act, which addresses the production of alternate formats, includes the following wording: "a format specifically designed for persons with a perceptual disability". This wording recognizes that students' accessibility-related needs can vary widely and that there isn't one blanket alternate format that can possibly address all accessibility-related needs. 

Students are encouraged to register with Queen's Student Accessibility Services (QSAS) so that individualized academic accommodations can be arranged. Queen's Student Accessibility Services (QSAS) will refer registered students with print disabilities to Library Accessibility Services so that alternate formats of textbooks, course readings, and research materials can be produced and provided. In order for alternate formats of textbooks, course readings, and research materials to be produced and provided, students will need to provide Library Accessibility Services with proof of purchase for those textbooks and agree not to reproduce, distribute, or communicate the produced and provided alternate formats by signing E-File Statement Agreements. 

Educator Resources are available to faculty so that they can create accessible faculty-created content (course outlines, handouts, assignment templates, slides, lecture notes, media, etc.). As Queen's faculty retain the rights (economic and moral rights) to the content that they create, it is recommended that faculty consider making the following information visible on or included within their faculty-created content: 

(c) [year], Prepared by [name of faculty member], Professor, Queen's University [email address] for use in [course, term]. 

A Creative Commons license could be applied at the faculty member's discretion, please see the Creative Commons Licenses section on our Authors' Rights & Course Materials page, or the line above could be accompanied by a statement addressing the use of the faculty-created content within the course and/or program as well as the reproduction, distribution, and communication of the faculty-created content online and outside of the course and/or program. 

Example: This slide deck is protected by copyright and was prepared for use within [course, term] by students enrolled in the course. The reproduction, distribution, and communication of this slide deck online or outside of [course, term] is not permitted without permission from [name of faculty member], Professor, Queen's University [email address].  

The Copyright Advisory Office offers a Takedown Notice service for Queen's faculty who have found their faculty-created content on course content sharing sites like Course Hero and StuDocU and would like their faculty-created content removed from such sites. For information about this service, please see our page linked above or contact the Copyright Advisory Office for assistance: qcopy@queensu.ca