FAQs on this page include:
Yes, you may but pay attention to these guidelines:
Remember to cite the source if you are able to copy and use it!
There are some conditions for using publicly available materials on the Web for an educational purpose:
Alternatively, try searching for public domain and Creative Commons licensed images that you can copy and use with less restrictions. Here are some resources that can help you:
Yes, you may but you cannot use the same fair dealing guidelines (copy 10% or less of a work for an educational use) when you share a work more broadly or on the Internet. You would need to use the six fair dealing factors to evaluate copyright compliance. Also, depending on your use and certain conditions, your use may be permitted under the “noncommercial user-generated content exception” or another provision of the Canadian Copyright Act.
If in doubt, remove the copyrighted content from your online/publicly facing version or request permission from the copyright owner to use the material.
Feel free to contact Sam Cheng, Open Education and Copyright Librarian, if you have a question about including copyrighted content in your own work.
Please refer to the first three questions and answers for guidance.
Check with your professor to see which citation style they want you to use. The Cite It Right guide has information on different citation styles including APA and MLA.
There is no specific format mentioned in the Canadian Copyright Act but at the minimum, include the author and source information. If it is an Internet source, include the URL or a link back to the work. If it is a Creative Commons licensed material, indicate the licence type in your citation.
Giving credit to the creator and original work can help you avoid plagiarism (passing off someone else's work as your own) but citation does not automatically protect you from copyright infringement. For example, when you copy the entire book but provide credit to the author, it is a copyright violation. On the other hand, when you copy a paragraph from a book in your class essay without attribution, there is no copyright concern but it is academic dishonesty. See the section on "What is Copyright?" for more information.
There is more to copyright compliance:
It depends on whether fair dealing applies in your use. Please refer to the Copyright for Film Students guide for more information.
Documentary Organization of Canada also created a helpful report titled "Copyright and Fair Dealing Guidelines for Documentary Filmmakers" (the report was done in 2010 so it did not include the fair dealing purposes of education, parody, and satire that were added to the Copyright Act in 2012 but most of the information is still relevant).
As per Sheridan’s Intellectual Property (IP) Policy, students generally own copyright to the work they create at Sheridan with some exceptions. If it is a team project, the students involved share copyright to the work. If an industry partner is involved in the project, they usually own copyright to the work which would be outlined in an agreement.
Please refer the IP Module for Students, created by Sheridan Research Office in collaboration with Office of General Counsel, for more information.
You may use clipart, stock photos and icons from Microsoft Office but it is recommended that you include the citation: “Used with permission from Microsoft.”
With online pictures located through Microsoft Office, they are mostly Creative Commons licensed and are free to copy and reuse. To locate the citation information, go to the source website – see below.
You may want to use resources that either have no or less copyright restrictions:
