Other Copyright Act exceptions 

All information from the UM Copyright Office is provided to the University of Manitoba community for informational and educational purposes and is not to be construed or relied upon as professional or legal opinion or advice. 

Sections 29.4 to 29.7, 30.01 and 30.04 of the Copyright Act provide specific exemptions that can be used by educational institutions or persons acting under their authority for educational training.

The Copyright Act provides exemptions for the following:

• internet content
• displaying a copyright protected work
• delivering content for online and in-person lessons
• tests or examinations
• performing a copyright protected audiovisual work
• news and commentary
• reproduction of a broadcast

Section 30.04(1) of the Copyright Act provides an exemption from copyright infringement for copying a copyright protected work available through the internet. The exemption applies to educational institutions and their employees and is subject to the following conditions:

1. The copy must mention the source of the work and the name of the author, performer, maker and/or broadcaster of the work.
2. The copyright protected work or the internet site where it is posted must not be protected by a digital lock (also known as a technical protection measure or TPM) that either restricts access to the work or restricts copying, communicating or performing in public the work.
3. There is no clearly visible notice posted on the internet site or on the work that prohibits the copying (note that the use of the copyright symbol by itself does not prevent you from applying this exemption).
4. The person making the copy must not be aware that the work was made available through the internet without the consent of the copyright owner.

Using the exemption under section 30.04(1) allows for an entire work from the internet to be copied or communicated.

Section 29.4(1) of the Copyright Act states that it is not an infringement of copyright to reproduce a copyright protected work, or do any other necessary act, in order to display the work on the premises of an educational institution for the purpose of education or training. This exemption extends beyond fair dealing in that it permits the display of more than a short excerpt of a work.

Except for the making of a manual reproduction (e.g., on a white board), the exemption does not apply if copies of the work are available for sale in Canada within a reasonable time, at a reasonable price, and the copies can be located with reasonable effort. For example, if an image bank of artwork is available under a licence, displaying those same images without a licence would likely be infringement.

Section 30.01 of the Copyright Act provides an exemption for a lesson, namely a presentation (such as PowerPoint) containing copyright protected material in excess of a short excerpt when presented in a classroom or in an online learning environment.

For this exemption to apply to an online learning environment, copies of the lesson must be distributed via a learning management system (such as UM Learn) and must be destroyed within 30 days after students in the course of study receive their final course evaluation.

Since all copies of the presentation (including students' copies) must be destroyed (not merely rendered inaccessible), faculty members and instructors may prefer to apply fair dealing rather than the exemption for a lesson and include a short excerpt only. See the relationship between exemptions below.

Fair dealing and the exemptions for displaying a work and a lesson are distinct and separate exemptions in the Copyright Act. Fair dealing may apply in circumstances in which the latter two exemptions also apply.

For example, a faculty member may post a classroom presentation to UM Learn that includes a short excerpt of a copyright protected work. The faculty member can rely on fair dealing for posting the classroom presentation – rather than the exemption – for a lesson and not have to destroy all copies of the classroom presentation within the 30-day period as required by the exemption for a lesson.

However, the faculty member cannot rely on fair dealing if the classroom presentation contains more than a short excerpt of a copyright protected work. Instead, the faculty member must ensure:

• the exemption for a lesson applies
• all copies of the classroom presentation are destroyed within the 30-day period 

Because of the destruction requirement, a faculty member may prefer applying fair dealing rather than the exemption for a lesson and only include a short excerpt in a classroom presentation that is to be posted to UM Learn.

As another example, teaching staff may display more than a fair amount in a classroom. However, no more than a fair amount may be posted to UM Learn. To avoid infringement, teaching staff may choose to remove slides any copyrighted content that exceeds fair dealing from the presentation before uploading the presentation to UM Learn.

Section 29.4(2) of the Copyright Act allows faculty members and instructors to reproduce, translate, perform or communicate a work required for a test or examination as long the material is not available commercially on the Canadian market within a reasonable time, for a reasonable price and located with reasonable effort. For example, if a bank of exam questions is for sale, the questions should not be copied freely for the exam.

This exemption pertains to a live performance (e.g., play or recital), performing a cinematographic work (e.g., film), sound recording (e.g., music) or other subject matter (e.g., TV program).

Faculty members, instructors and staff can rely on the exemption in section 29.5 of the Copyright Act for some public performances on the premises of the university for educational or training purposes before an audience consisting primarily of students, instructors, or staff who set curriculum. To use this exemption, the work must either not be an infringing copy or the person responsible for the performance must have no reasonable grounds to believe that it is an infringing copy. The exemption in section 29.5 applies to performing all or any part of a work.

For example, this exemption would allow a class to perform a play, view a film, listen to a musical CD, or watch a television program as it is aired, under the conditions noted above.

For digital streams or digital copies of an audiovisual work, review the terms of use or licence allowances before considering this exemption. Many services such as Netflix and Apple have contractual terms that limit performing some or all of their content to personal or home use only. In cases such as these, public performance in a classroom setting is prohibited. As an alternative to using a digital service with restrictive terms, an instructor may purchase or borrow a physical commercial copy of the work to take advantage of the exemption.

To use other types of content from the internet (such as a YouTube video), consider embedding the video in the teaching material or providing a link to students.

Tariff or licence fees must be paid when playing music or showing a film on university premises outside of an educational context. For example, an on-campus wedding social or retirement party with background music would likely incur SOCAN and Re:Sound fees. Similarly, a student group showing a feature film on campus for non-educational purposes would require a licence from Audio-Ciné (ACF), Criterion Pictures or another distributor.

While this exemption applies to public performances, it likely would not apply to any recordings or broadcasts made of the same public performances. For example, recording the production of a play or a musical recital performed by students in class would require permission from the students and of the copyright owner of the source material. Privacy rights, students’ copyright in their performances, and the rights to remuneration of the copyright owner in the composition or dramatic work being performed must all be considered prior to recording public performances.

Section 29.6 of the Copyright Act provides an exemption permitting the reproduction of a single copy of a news program or news commentary program to show to an audience of university students for educational training where the copy is shown on the university premises. Copied news and commentary programs must not be used for entertainment purposes.

A documentary does not qualify for the exemption and requires permission to copy.

Sections 29.7 of the Copyright Act allows an educational institution or someone acting under its authority to make a single copy of a work at the time it is broadcast, and to keep the copy for up to 30 days to determine whether or not to perform the copy for educational or training purposes.

If the copy is performed before university students on the university premises, or if the copy is retained for more than 30 days, it will be subject to royalties and other terms and conditions. Contact the Copyright Office in advance of showing a copy of a broadcast, or within 15 days of the recording being made, to determine the applicable royalties and conditions.

It is never permissible to show a copy of a broadcast obtained through unlawful means.

Section 32 of the Copyright Act permits a person with a perceptual disability, or a person acting at the request of such a person, or for a non-profit organization acting for the benefit of such a person to:

1. Make a copy or sound recording of a literary, musical, artistic or dramatic work, other than a cinematographic work (motion picture or film), in a format specially designed for persons with a perceptual disability
2. Make a fixed copy of a performer’s performance of a literary, musical, artistic or dramatic work, other than a cinematographic work (motion picture or film), in a format specially designed for persons with a perceptual disability
3. Make a copy of a sound recording, or a copy of a performance made under point 2 above, in a format specially designed for persons with a perceptual disability
4. Translate, adapt or reproduce in sign language a literary or dramatic work, other than a cinematographic work, in a format specially designed for persons with a perceptual disability
5. Provide a person with a perceptual disability with, or with access to, a work or other subject matter the above points apply to, in a format specially designed for persons with a perceptual disability, and do any other act that is necessary for that purpose
6. Perform in public a literary or dramatic work, other than a cinematographic work, in sign language, either live or in a format specially designed for persons with a perceptual disability

The exemption does not apply where the work or sound recording is commercially available on the Canadian market in a format specially designed to meet the needs of a person with a perceptual disability and can be acquired using reasonable effort within a reasonable time and at a reasonable price.

This exemption allows non-profit organizations to reproduce literary, musical, artistic or dramatic works (but not cinematographic works) in a format specifically designed for persons with a print disability to people outside of Canada in certain circumstances. If you believe this exemption may apply to your circumstances, contact the Copyright Office for further information.

Persons with perceptual disabilities may contact UM Libraries or Student Accessibility Services for information about their services and equipment.

Section 29.21 of the Copyright Act allows some copying for personal use, with limitations. This exemption is sometimes called the “YouTube exception.”

For example, recording a friend dancing to copyrighted music and posting the recording to YouTube for non-commercial purposes is likely allowed. As well, creating a musical or video mash-up for non-commercial purposes is also likely allowed. Among other limitations, breaking a digital lock to access the original works is prohibited.

The Copyright Act includes a number of other copyright exemptions that may be relevant.

For example, the exemption related to reproduction for private purposes (Sections 29.22 and 29.23) would allow you to copy songs from a CD you legally own onto your computer, and to record a television program to watch at a later time. Another exemption allows you to create a backup copy of software you legally own (Section 29.24). See the Copyright Act for details of all exemptions and limitations.