Primary copyright policies

These are the two primary University of Manitoba policies respecting copyright:

• Intellectual Property Policy 
• Use of Copyright Protected Materials Policy 

Responsible Conduct of Research

These policies and procedures help ensure that UM  has the highest standards of integrity in all research.

• Responsible Conduct of Research

The Copyright Act

In Canada, copyright-protected material is governed by the Copyright Act.

• Copyright Act

Fair Dealing Week: Recognizing the user's copy right

Fair Dealing is celebrated the week of February 24-28th, 2025 by educational institutions and libraries in the United States and Canada through an annual initiative of the Association of Research Libraries and Canadian Association of Research Libraries.

Why should you recognize Fair Dealing Week?

Canada’s Copyright Act creates a delicate balance between the rights of copyright owners in their works, and the right of copyright users to copy and share works for specified purposes—like research and education—as long as the use is fair. Faculty, instructors, students, librarians and support staff at the University of Manitoba use Fair Dealing on a regular basis for educational, private study, research, and criticism and review purposes.

Fair Dealing is an important right that helps further education, research, and the creation of new academic works. This right is set out in s. 29 of the Copyright Act, and its application is interpreted through jurisprudence. To help facilitate the use of Fair Dealing at the University of Manitoba, our UM Copyright Guidelines set out parameters for the application of Fair Dealing for educational purposes by members of the University of Manitoba Community. Faculty, instructors and support staff can also review the University’s Copyright Course or Copyright Decision Tool for additional information and help with Fair Dealing and other copyright exemptions.

Questions?

If you have questions about Fair Dealing at the University of Manitoba or any copyright related inquiry, contact the Copyright Office at the University of Manitoba at um.copyright@umanitoba.ca. We’re here to help—no question is too big or too small!  
 

Copyright Term Changes

To comply with the United States of America-Mexico-Canada trade Agreement (USMCA) the Government of Canada implemented a copyright term extension to the Copyright Act in late 2022. As a result of these changes, the duration of copyright has been extended from 50 to 70 years after the year of death of the author. This change does not have retroactive effect, meaning that works that already entered the Public Domain before the legislative change remain in the Public Domain.

Although copyright durations in some types of works (for example film and sound recordings) follow different rules, in effect this change means that the Public Domain will remain static over the next two decades. Beginning in 2023, the Public Domain will consist of works created by authors who died in 1971 or earlier until additional works enter the Public Domain 70 years after the year of the death of the author, commencing in 2043.

Copyright notices

There has been a recent increase in fraudulent copyright notice emails (particularly DMCA complaints) claiming infringement of materials on websites. These emails may appear like genuine complaints but link to malicious websites or include a link to a zip file containing malicious files. Exercise caution if you receive a complaint, and report any suspicious emails to infosec@umanitoba.ca.