Using Someone Else's Work
If you want to use a work that’s under copyright, you usually need:
- permission from the copyright owner, or
- to rely on a legal exception, like fair dealing
What is Fair Dealing?
Fair dealing allows limited use of copyrighted material without permission or payment, if it is for an allowable purpose and is considered “fair.”
Allowable purposes include:
- research
- private study
- education
- parody or satire
- criticism or review
- news reporting
To decide if something qualifies as fair dealing, you need to consider how much is being used, why it's being used, and how it affects the original work. The six criteria to consider are: purpose, character, amount, nature, effect, and alternatives to the dealing.
In Canada, "fairness" is determined by a two-step test:
Step 1: Purpose
First, the purpose of the dealing must be one of the following:
- research
- private study
- education
- parody or satire
- criticism or review
- news reporting
Step 2: The Six Factors of Fair Dealing
Second, the use should be weighed according to the "Six Factors of Fair Dealing," as described by the Supreme Court (CCH Canadian Ltd. v. Law Society of Upper Canada, 2004, para 53-60):
- Purpose: Is your use one of the eight listed in the Copyright Act? Is it for commercial or non-commercial purposes? A commercial use might be seen as less fair.
- Character: Is the plan to make a single copy? multiple copies? will the copy be destroyed when its use is completed?
- Amount: Examine the amount of the work to be copied and the significance of the copied portion (will copies be made of a significant part of the work?)
- Alternatives: Is a non-copyrighted equivalent available?
- Nature: Is the work private, confidential? Unpublished? If unpublished, could be seen as more 'fair' since copyright has a goal of information dissemination.
- Effect: Will your use compete with the market of the original work?
Learn more: Dalhousie’s Fair Dealing Guidelines
Have Questions or Want More Information?
The Dalhousie Libraries Copyright Office can help you understand what you can use, how to get permission, and when exceptions apply.
Visit our comprehensive Copyright guide for more detailed and specific advice or contact us at copyright.office@dal.ca.