This guide and the resources included within are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International license, except as otherwise noted. Questions and requests may be directed to Meaghan Shannon, Copyright Librarian at Queen's University: meaghan.shannon@queensu.ca.
The information on this page is intended for Queen's faculty and addresses the following:
- What Fair Dealing is and How it Works
- Appendix A: Fair Dealing Requirements for Educational Copying
- Short Excerpts Explained
- Applying Fair Dealing to Classrooms and Course Sites
- Fair Dealing and Indigenous Works
Information about fair dealing for students, researchers, and staff is available in our guides:
Copyright Information for Students (coming soon)
Copyright Information for Researchers (coming soon)
Copyright Information for Staff (coming soon)
If you have any questions about fair dealing or need assistance, please contact the Copyright Advisory Office: qcopy@queensu.ca.
Fair dealing is an exception in the Copyright Act that permits the use of copyright-protected materials and works, for specific purposes, without authorization or permission from the author or copyright owner. Sections 29, 29.1, and 29.2 of the Copyright Act state that fair dealing for the purpose of research, private study, education, parody or satire, criticism or review, or news reporting does not infringe copyright. Sections 29.1 and 29.2 require that the source and author/performer/maker of a sound recording/broadcaster of a communication signal be acknowledged when copyright-protected works are used for the purpose of criticism or review or news reporting.
While that is all the Copyright Act says about the fair dealing exception, the following are important takeaways:
- There are eight purposes for which the use of copyright-protected materials and works constitutes fair dealing and does not constitute copyright infringement: research, private study, education, parody or satire, criticism or review, or news reporting.
- 'Education' is an undefined term within the Copyright Act so it can be interpreted broadly.
- While acknowledging the source and author are required for the purposes of criticism, review, and news reporting, it's important to note that sources and authors should be also acknowledged for the academic purposes of research, private study, and education.
When it comes to applying and interpreting the fair dealing exception and determining whether a dealing with a copyright-protected material or work constitutes fair dealing, we need to consider the six fair dealing factors that were prescribed by the Supreme Court of Canada in the decision regarding CCH Canadian Ltd. v. Law Society of Upper Canada (2004):
1. The purpose of the dealing,
2. The character of the dealing,
3. The amount of the dealing,
4. The availability of alternatives to the dealing,
5. The nature of the work, and
6. The effect of the dealing on the work.
Conducting a fair dealing assessment to determine whether a dealing with a copyright-protected material or work constitutes fair dealing will involve considering the six fair dealing factors as follows:
1. The purpose of the dealing: is the dealing with the copyright-protected material or work for one of the eight purposes that the Copyright Act states constitutes fair dealing and does not constitute copyright infringement (research, private study, education, parody or satire, criticism or review, or news reporting)?
2. The character of the dealing: which and how many of the author's or copyright owner's economic rights are being exercised without their authorization or permission in order to deal with the copyright-protected material or work for the specific purpose? Is the format of the copyright-protected material or work being transferred (ie print to digital)? Are single or multiple copies being made? Are single or multiple copies being distributed to one person or student, a few people or students, or many people or students? Are copies being destroyed after the purpose of the dealing has been achieved? How, and in what manner, will the moral right of attribution be respected?
3. The amount of the dealing: in proportion to the copyright-protected material or work, how much of the copyright-protected material or work is being reproduced, distributed, communicated, performed, exhibited, or translated/adapted? Is that amount substantial or insubstantial? Is a single short excerpt involved in the dealing or are multiple short excerpts involved in the dealing? Has the amount of the dealing been considered from both qualitative and quantitative perspectives?
4. The availability of alternatives to the dealing: have available alternatives to the dealing been identified and considered? Is the copyright-protected material or work available through the databases or among the eResources that Queen's University Library licenses and subscribes to? Is an equivalent alternative available within the public domain or through a Creative Commons license? Is the copyright-protected material or work available online and, if so, can a link or hyperlink be shared instead of the copyright-protected material or work being reproduced?
5. The nature of the work: what is the nature of the copyright-protected material or work involved in the dealing? Has the material or work been published or is it an unpublished material or work? Has the material or work been published as a consumable, such as a case study or a work book? Is the material or work intended for a specific audience, such as an Indigenous work, a desk copy of a textbook or an instructor's manual, a document prepared by a student and submitted only to an instructor, or a material or work commissioned by an individual or entity for a specific purpose and audience?
6. The effect of the dealing on the work: will the dealing with the copyright-protected material or work have an adverse effect on the author's or copyright owner's ability to exploit the economic value and potential of their material or work? Is the dealing with the copyright-protected material or work likely to compete with the original material or work in its market?
If you have questions about the application and interpretation of fair dealing or need assistance conducting fair dealing assessments, please contact the Copyright Advisory Office: qcopy@queensu.ca.
Queen's University's Copyright Compliance and Administration Policy was informed by the House of Commons' Statutory Review of the Copyright Act (June 2019) and decisions from the Supreme Court of Canada regarding CCH Canadian Ltd. v. Law Society of Upper Canada (2004), Alberta (Education) v. Canadian Copyright Licensing Agency (Access Copyright) (2012), and York University v. Canadian Copyright Licensing Agency (Access Copyright) (2021). The policy is accompanied by Appendix A: Fair Dealing Requirements for Educational Copyright which provides Queen's faculty and staff with requirements and safeguards when dealing with copyright-protected material or works fairly, acceptably, and responsibly for educational purposes. The full text of Appendix A: Fair Dealing Requirements for Educational Copying is available below.
The fair dealing exception in the Copyright Act permits the use of short excerpts from copyright-protected material or works without consent or permission from the author or copyright owner (or their representative) or the payment of copyright licensing fees or royalties. For the use of shorts excerpts from copyright-protected material or works to be considered within the scope of the fair dealing exception, two tests must be passed.
First, the 'dealing' must be for a purpose listed in the Copyright Act: research, private study, criticism, review, news reporting, education, parody, or satire. Educational use of copyright-protected material or works passes the first test.
The second test is that the dealing must be 'fair'. In landmark decisions in 2004 and 2012, the Supreme Court of Canada provided guidance as to how this test is applied in educational institutions.
The university is committed to providing professional advice through the Copyright Advisory Office about access to and the responsible and acceptable use of copyright-protected material or works. To this end, we have developed the following requirements for the use of short excerpts from copyright-protected materials or works to satisfy the requirement that such use be fair.
Requirements for short excerpts:
1. Faculty and staff may reproduce and communicate, in paper or electronic form, short excerpts from copyright-protected material or works for the purpose of research, private study, criticism, review, news reporting, education, parody, or satire.
2. A 'short excerpt' means:
a. up to 10% of a copyright-protected material or work (including a literary work, musical score, sound recording, and an audiovisual work). [Note: in cases where the work is an anthology or collection that includes complete works that are otherwise available in separate volumes, this may not be applicable. In such cases, contact the Copyright Advisory Office for clarification];
b. one chapter from a book;
c. a single article from 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;
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 work is reproduced than is required to achieve the allowable purpose.
3. Reproducing or communicating multiple short excerpts from the same copyright-protected material or work, with the intention of copying or communicating substantial amounts of the copyright-protected material or work or the copyright-protected material or work in its entirety, is prohibited.
4. The use of Indigenous works of cultural heritage, traditional knowledge, and traditional cultural expression require special consideration. In such cases, contact the Copyright Advisory Office for review and assistance.
5. A copy of a short excerpt from a copyright-protected material or work may be provided or communicated to each student enrolled in a class or course:
a. as a class handout; or
b. as a posting to a learning or course management system that is password protected or otherwise restricted to students of the university.
6. *An attribution statement acknowledging the author and source of the short excerpt should be visible on the copy being provided or communicated to students. This attribution is mandatory when the copy is being made for the purpose of news reporting, criticism, or review.*
7. Short excerpts from copyright-protected material or works that exceed the limits set out in the Fair Dealing Requirements are to be referred to the Copyright Advisory Office for evaluation. A determination as to whether the proposed reproduction or communication is permitted within the scope of fair dealing will be made based on all factors and relevant circumstances.
8. Any fee charged by the university for reproducing or communicating a short excerpt from a copyright-protected material or work must be intended to cover only the costs incurred by the university, including overhead costs.
9. Copyright assistance is available through the Copyright Advisory Office: qcopy@queensu.ca.
Documents addressing additional specific types of short excerpts are available below.
The graphic below is intended to illustrate how fair dealing works: the identification of the purposes from the Copyright Act, the consideration of the six fair dealing factors from the Supreme Court of Canada's decision regarding CCH Canadian Ltd. v. Law Society of Upper Canada (2004), and compliance with the Fair Dealing Requirements for Educational Copying (Appendix A of Queen's University's Copyright Compliance and Administration Policy).
If you have any questions about the application and interpretation of fair dealing or need assistance conducting fair dealing assessments, please contact the Copyright Advisory Office: qcopy@queensu.ca.
While there are six fair dealing factors to consider when determining whether a dealing with a copyright-protected material or work constitutes fair dealing, it's the 'amount of the dealing' factor that often gets a lot of the attention and causes a lot of confusion.
Section 2 of the Fair Dealing Requirements for Educational Copying (Appendix A of Queen's University's Copyright Compliance and Administration Policy) defines 'a short excerpt' as follows:
2. A 'short excerpt' (one short excerpt per copyright-protected material or work) means:
a. up to 10% of a copyright-protected material or work (including a literary work, musical score, sound recording, and an audiovisual work) (part a is intended to address a page range of up to 10% of a copyright-protected material or work. If one page range constitutes 7% of a copyright-protected material or work, for example, that page range could be used in accordance with the Fair Dealing Requirements but we would not find an additional 3% from that same copyright-protected material or work in an effort to reach the 10% figure. One page range of up to 10% of a copyright-protected material or work would constitute 'a short excerpt' in accordance with the Fair Dealing Requirements. One page range can include multiple artistic works (as noted in part d below: paintings, prints, photographs, diagrams, drawings, maps, charts, etc.). Any page range in excess of 10% of a copyright protected material or work would require authorization or permission from the copyright owner. Any additional page ranges, regardless of their length or brevity, from the same copyright-protected material or work would require authorization or permission from the copyright owner. Lastly, please note that '10%' is not mentioned in the Copyright Act nor has it been endorsed by any Canadian courts.) [Note: in cases where the work is an anthology or collection that includes complete works that are otherwise available in separate volumes, this may not be applicable (short stories, articles, etc. from anthologies or collections are best treated as chapters from books, please see part b below). In such cases, contact the Copyright Advisory Office for clarification];
b. one chapter from a book (one chapter from a book would constitute 'a short excerpt' in accordance with the Fair Dealing Requirements. One chapter can include multiple artistic works (as noted in part d below: paintings, prints, photographs, diagrams, drawings, maps, charts, etc.). Short stories, articles, etc. from anthologies or collections are best treated as chapters from books. One chapter can exceed 10% of a copyright-protected work but it would be best to consult with the Copyright Advisory Office if a chapter constitutes a substantial amount of a book. Any additional chapters from the same book would require authorization or permission from the copyright owner.);
c. a single article from a periodical (periodicals, such as magazines and journals, are published as issues or volumes periodically: weekly, bimonthly, monthly, quarterly, seasonally, or annually. A single article from an issue or volume of a periodical would constitute 'a short excerpt' in accordance with the Fair Dealing Requirements. Any additional articles from the same issue or volume of a periodical would require authorization or permission from the copyright owner. The Fair Dealing Requirements are best applied to articles from periodicals in print format. Queen's University Library subscribes to many periodicals which are available online through databases. Providing students with persistent links to multiple articles from the same issues or volumes of these periodicals would not be restricted by the Fair Dealing Requirements.);
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 (an entire artistic work is a standalone copyright-protected material or work. One entire artistic work from a copyright-protected material or work, such as a book containing other artistic works, would constitute 'a short excerpt' in accordance with the Fair Dealing Requirements. Any additional entire artistic works from the same copyright-protected material or work would require authorization or permission from the copyright owner. One page range of up to 10% of a copyright-protected material or work can include multiple artistic works. One chapter from a book can include multiple artistic works.);
e. an entire newspaper article or page (newspapers are generally published daily or weekly. A single article or page from a day's or week's newspaper would constitute 'a short excerpt' in accordance with the Fair Dealing Requirements. Any additional articles or pages from the same day's or week's newspaper would require authorization or permission from the copyright owner. The Fair Dealing Requirements are best applied to articles and pages from newspapers in print format. Queen's University Library subscribes to many newspapers which are available online through databases. Providing students with persistent links to multiple articles from these newspapers would not be restricted by the Fair Dealing Requirements.);
f. an entire single poem or musical score from a copyright-protected material or work containing other poems or musical scores (an entire poem or musical score from a copyright-protected material or work containing other poems or musical scores, such as an anthology or collection of poems or musical scores, would constitute 'a short excerpt' in accordance with the Fair Dealing Requirements. Any additional poems or musical scores from that same anthology or collection of poems or musical scores would require authorization or permission from the copyright owner. If a poem or musical score is published individually, 'a short excerpt' from that individually published poem or musical score could be provided (classroom) or communicated (course site) to students in accordance with the Fair Dealing Requirements but authorization or permission from the copyright owner would be required in order to provide or communicate the entire individually published poem or musical score.); or
g. an entire entry from an encyclopedia, annotated bibliography, dictionary, or similar reference work (similar to anthologies and collections, reference works like encyclopedias, annotated bibliographies, and dictionaries contain numerous articles and entries. A single entire entry from such a reference work would constitute 'a short excerpt' in accordance with the Fair Dealing Requirements. Any additional entries from the same reference work would require authorization or permission from the copyright owner. The Fair Dealing Requirements are best applied to reference works in print format. Many reference works are available through Queen's University Library as eResources and providing students with persistent links to entries from these reference works would not be restricted by the Fair Dealing Requirements.);
provided that in each case, no more of the copyright-protected material or work is reproduced than is required to achieve the allowable purpose.
*An attribution statement acknowledging the author and source of the short excerpt should be visible on the copy being provided (classroom) or communicated (course site) to students.*
Queen's faculty are encouraged to use Queen's University Library's Course Reserves service for their course readings. We will conduct fair dealing assessments, link to publicly accessible and library-licensed content, seek authorization or permission from copyright owners when required, and pay for any licensing fees. Your course readings will be accessible and available to students through your course sites. Reading lists can be submitted to library.reserves@queensu.ca.
The graphics below are intended to illustrate how to deal fairly with a short excerpt from each of the categories of copyright-protected material or works explained above and addressed in section 2 of the Fair Dealing Requirements for Educational Copying (Appendix A of Queen's University's Copyright Compliance and Administration Policy). If you have any questions about short excerpts or need any assistance, please contact the Copyright Advisory Office: qcopy@queensu.ca.
As per the Fair Dealing Requirements for Educational Copying (Appendix A of Queen's University's Copyright Compliance and Administration Policy), a short excerpt from a copyright-protected material or work may be made by or on behalf of a faculty member for the purpose of educating students and facilitating their private study. A faculty member, or their proxy, may:
- provide (in a classroom) a reproduction of a short excerpt from a copyright-protected material or work as a handout to students enrolled in a course of study; or
- communicate (via a course site within a password-protected learning management system, such as onQ, Elentra, and the Smith School of Business' portals) a reproduction of a short excerpt from a copyright-protected material or work as a posting to students enrolled in a course of study.
*An attribution statement acknowledging the author and source of the short excerpt should be visible on the short excerpt that is provided (classroom) or communicated (course site) to students.*
A short excerpt from a copyright-protected material or work may also be incorporated, along with attribution statements, into lecture slides and quizzes, tests, and exams but relying on the Fair Dealing Requirements to do so is not necessary as there are exceptions in the Copyright Act that address such educational uses. Please see our Copyright in the Classroom and Copyright in Course Sites pages within this guide for more information.
As a safeguard to protect the interests of authors and copyright owners, the copyright-protected material or work from which the reproduction of the short excerpt is made must be a legitimate publication or version of the copyright-protected material or work that is in the lawful possession of the faculty member or Queen's University. This would include a copyright-protected material or work within Queen's University Library's collection or a copyright-protected material or work borrowed via the interlibrary loans service. A short excerpt reproduced from a copyright-protected material or work within the scope of fair dealing and provided via the interlibrary loans service may be provided (classroom) or communicated (course site) to students enrolled in a course of study.
The Fair Dealing Requirements would not apply to the reproduction of short excerpts from copyright-protected materials or works for use in association with lectures or presentations that are open to the general public or delivered at conferences. Depending on the circumstances, the fair dealing exception in the Copyright Act may apply to such lectures and presentations. If you are preparing such a lecture or presentation, please consult with the Copyright Advisory Office: qcopy@queensu.ca.
Traditional knowledge is the knowledge resulting from intellectual activity in a traditional context, including innovations, know-how, practices, and skills that are developed, passed on through generations, and form the cultural and spiritual identities of Indigenous communities. As Indigenous communities are the guardians of their traditional knowledge, it is accessed and used solely at the discretion of Indigenous communities and in accordance with any licenses that they have chosen to apply.
Adopted by the General Assembly on September 13, 2007, the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples established a framework of minimum standards for the survival, dignity, and well being of Indigenous peoples of the world. The Declaration elaborates on existing human rights and fundamental freedoms and Article 31 states that "Indigenous peoples have the right to maintain, control, protect, and develop their cultural heritage, traditional knowledge, and traditional cultural expressions, as well as the manifestations of their sciences, technologies, and cultures, including human and genetic resources, seeds, medicines, knowledge of the properties of flora and fauna, oral traditions, literature, designs, sports and traditional games, and visual and performing arts. Indigenous peoples also have the right to maintain, control, protect, and develop their intellectual property over such cultural heritage, traditional knowledge, and traditional cultural expressions".
The Canadian United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act came into force in 2021 so we would seek to apply copyright law to oral traditions, literature, designs, and visual and performing arts but we need to be cautious about applying what would be regarded as colonial law to Indigenous works of cultural heritage, traditional knowledge, and traditional cultural expression. We also need to recognize that significant efforts are being undertaken by Indigenous peoples to reclaim their cultural heritage, traditional knowledge, and traditional cultural expressions that have been fixed in some way (in print, photographs, recordings, etc.) and have been made available to the public when they never should have been. When considering whether to use an Indigenous work of cultural heritage, traditional knowledge, or traditional cultural expression for educational or research purposes, it would be a best practice to consider whether such use would be contributing to or perpetuating the use of that Indigenous work outside the Indigenous community to which it belongs. The use of Indigenous works of cultural heritage, traditional knowledge, and traditional cultural expression does require special consideration so it would be a best practice to seek approval for uses from, and confirm appropriateness of uses with, the Indigenous communities that the Indigenous works belong to.
Queen's University incorporated wording from the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples into the Copyright Compliance and Administration Policy, within the Fair Dealing Exception section. That wording is echoed in section 4 of Appendix A: Fair Dealing Requirements for Educational Copying: the use of Indigenous works of cultural heritage, traditional knowledge, and traditional cultural expressions requires special consideration. In such cases, contact the Copyright Advisory Office for review and assistance: qcopy@queensu.ca.
The Fair Dealing Requirements address the reproduction of short excerpts from copyright-protected works. Whenever a short excerpt is reproduced from a copyright-protected material or work, that short excerpt is removed from the whole and original copyright-protected material or work and there is a risk that the short excerpt could be disassociated from the whole and original copyright-protected material or work. The risk of disassociation presents threats to heritage and culture which increase substantially when a short excerpt is reproduced and removed or separated from an Indigenous work or cultural heritage, traditional knowledge, or traditional cultural expression.
When conducting fair dealing assessments to determine whether the use of a short excerpt from a copyright-protected material or work is likely to be fair, we consider the six fair dealing factors that were prescribed by the Supreme Court of Canada in the decision regarding CCH Canadian Ltd. v. Law Society of Upper Canada (2004). These six factors are:
1. the purpose of the dealing,
2. the character of the dealing,
3. the amount of the dealing,
4. the availability of alternatives to the dealing,
5. the nature of the work, and
6. the effect of the dealing on the work.
These six fair dealing factors are intended to be considered in the order that they were prescribed by the Supreme Court of Canada. When considering whether the use of a short excerpt from an Indigenous work of cultural heritage, traditional knowledge, or traditional cultural expression could possibly be fair, it may be appropriate to consider the six fair dealing factors in a different order:
1st (Factor 5) the nature of the Indigenous work: what is the nature of the Indigenous work involved in the dealing? Is the Indigenous work unpublished and should it remain as such? Has the Indigenous work been published by or with consent from an Indigenous community? Is the Indigenous work intended only for a specific audience, such as an Indigenous community or specific members of an Indigenous community?
2nd (Factor 1) the purpose of the dealing: is the dealing with the Indigenous work for one of the eight purposes that the Copyright Act states constitutes fair dealing and does not constitute copyright infringement (research, private study, education, parody or satire, criticism or review, or news reporting)?
3rd (Factor 2) the character of the dealing: which and how many of the Indigenous author's or Indigenous community's economic rights are being exercised without their authorization or permission in order to deal with the Indigenous work for the specific purpose? Is the format of the Indigenous work being transferred (ie from print or physical format to digital)? Are single or multiple copies being made? Are single or multiple copies being distributed to one person or student, a few people or students, or many people or students? Are copies being destroyed after the purpose of the dealing has been achieved? How, and in what manner, will the moral right of attribution be respected?
4th (Factor 3) the amount of the dealing: in proportion to the Indigenous work, how much of the Indigenous work is being reproduced, distributed, communicated, performed, exhibited, or translated/adapted? Is that amount substantial or insubstantial? Is a single short excerpt involved in the dealing or are multiple short excerpts involved in the dealing? Has the amount of the dealing been considered from both qualitative and quantitative perspectives?
5th (Factor 6) the effect of the dealing on the Indigenous work: will the dealing with the Indigenous work have an adverse effect on the Indigenous community and/or their culture and heritage? Will the dealing with the Indigenous work have an adverse effect on the Indigenous author's or the Indigenous community's ability to exploit the economic value and potential of the Indigenous work? Is the dealing with the Indigenous work likely to compete with the original Indigenous work in its published form and in its market?
6th (Factor 5) the availability of alternatives to the dealing: have available alternatives to the dealing been identified and considered? Is the Indigenous work available through the databases or among the eResources that Queen's University Library licenses and subscribes to? Is an equivalent alternative available within the public domain, through a Creative Commons license, or through a Traditional Knowledge label? Was the Indigenous work made available online by the Indigenous author or Indigenous community and, if so, can a link or hyperlink be shared instead of the Indigenous work being reproduced?
*The Indigenous author(s), Indigenous community or Indigenous communities, and source of the short excerpt should be visible on the copy of the short excerpt that is provided (classroom) or communicated (course site) to students.*
The use of Indigenous works of cultural heritage, traditional knowledge, and traditional cultural expression do require special consideration so while it would be a best practice to conduct a respectful fair dealing assessment, it would also be a best practice to seek approval for uses from, and confirm appropriateness with, the Indigenous communities that the Indigenous works belong to.
For more information, please see our Copyright and Indigenous Works page.
Queen's faculty are encouraged to use Queen's University Library's Course Reserves service if they intend to make copies of short excerpts from Indigenous works available to students through their course sites.
If you have any questions or concerns about the application and interpretation of fair dealing, please contact the Copyright Advisory Office for assistance: qcopy@queensu.ca.