There have been reports of Seneca teaching materials being found on commercial note sharing websites such as Course Hero, OneClass, and StudyBlue.
It is a violation of copyright for anyone to post material that is not theirs to these sites without the permission of the authors. These include class notes and presentations created by faculty and teaching materials supplied from a publisher.
A majority of the course lectures and materials provided in class and posted in Blackboard are protected by copyright. Use of these materials must comply with the College’s Copyright Policy, Fair Dealing Policy, Intellectual Property Policy, and Student Code of Conduct. Students may use, copy, and share these materials for learning and/or research purposes provided that the use complies with fair dealing or an exception in the Copyright Act. Permission from the rights holder would be necessary otherwise. Please note that it is prohibited to reproduce and/or post a work that is not your own on third-party commercial websites including but not limited to Course Hero, OneNote, or StudyBlue. It is also prohibited to reproduce and/or post a work that is not your own or your own work with the intent to assist others in cheating on third-party commercial websites including but not limited to Course Hero, OneNote, or StudyBlue.
While copyright automatically applies to a work as soon as it is fixed in a tangible format, you may want to include a copyright mark or statement on a work to communicate its copyright status. For example, ©2020 Seneca Polytechnic or This work is the intellectual property of Seneca Polytechnic and it is provided to students exclusively for their own educational use. It is prohibited to reproduce and/or post this material to any commercial websites.
Some students may not be aware of copyright since they are accustomed to being able to access information freely online. It is helpful to talk to students about their rights and responsibilities when they are using other people's intellectual property. A member of the copyright team is always available to come to class and assist with this. Contact us at theservicehub@senecapolytechnic.ca.
By using a Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial-Share Alike License (CC BY_NC-SA) you can share your material but it prevents any commercial use of the material on sites that would make a profit from it.
*Material adapted with permission from Sheridan College Copyright
Generally the policy of these sites states the author (i.e., the faculty) must contact them for content removal. If you have found your material illegally posted on a website we have templates below of letters that you can use to ask for removal of your content from the websites.
Subject: Copyright Infringement Notice
To whom it may concern:
This is notice pursuant to section 41.25 of Canada’s Copyright Act that your website service is hosting material that infringes copyright. You are required by section 41.26(1) of the Copyright Act to:
(a) as soon as feasible forward the notice electronically to the person to whom the electronic location identified by the location data specified in the notice belongs and inform the claimant of its forwarding or, if applicable, of the reason why it was not possible to forward it; and
(b) retain records that will allow the identity of the person to whom the electronic location belongs to be determined, and do so for six months beginning on the day on which the notice of claimed infringement is received or, if the claimant commences proceedings relating to the claimed infringement and so notifies the person before the end of those six months, for one year after the day on which the person receives the notice of claimed infringement.
Work(s): [Title(s)]
Location(s): [link to URL(s)]
File name: [name, if applicable]
Date and time of infringement: [Date infringement was found and viewed, note also if “ongoing”]
Infringing poster: [name/username/account/other identifying information if available]
As the creator of the listed works and employee of Seneca Polytechnic, who is the copyright owner of [the works listed above or, if your work has been used in a larger file, identify the specific parts of the work(s) in which you own copyright]. This/these work(s) has/have been posted to your service without permission from me on behalf of the college or with direct permission from the college. Therefore, on behalf of the college, these works are to be removed from your website.
Claimant name: [Your name]
Contact information: [business address, email, & phone number]
Please contact me at the email listed above indicating your prompt response.
[Name]
[Date]
Subject: Copyright Infringement Notice
To whom it may concern:
This is notice pursuant to section 512(c) of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act that your website service is hosting material that infringes my copyright. As a service provider, you are required to “expeditiously remove or disable access to” the infringing material.
Work(s): [Title(s)]
Location(s): [link to URL(s)]
File name: [name, if applicable]
Infringing poster: [name/username/account/other identifying information if available]
As the creator of the listed works and employee of Seneca Polytechnic, who is the copyright owner of [the works listed above or, if your work has been used in a larger file, identify the specific parts of the work(s) in which you own copyright]. This/these work(s) has/have been posted to your service without permission from me on behalf of the college or with direct permission from the college. Therefore, on behalf of the college, these works are to be removed from your website.
Claimant name: [Your name]
Contact information: [business address, email, & phone number]
I have a good faith belief that the use of the material that appears on the service is not authorized by myself, the copyright owner, my agent, or by operation of law.
I declare under penalty of perjury, pursuant to the laws of the United States of America, that this notification is true and accurate, and that I am either the copyright owner or I am authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or by operation of law.
Please contact me at the email listed above indicating your prompt response.
Signed,
[electronic or physical signature]
[name]
[Date]
Subject: Copyright Infringement Notice
To whom it may concern:
This is notice that your website service is hosting material that infringes copyright in my material.
Work(s): [Title(s)]
Location(s): [link to URL(s)]
File name: [name, if applicable]
Infringing poster: [name/username/account/other identifying information if available]
As the creator of the listed works and employee of Seneca Polytechnic, who is the copyright owner of [the works listed above or, if your work has been used in a larger file, identify the specific parts of the work(s) in which you own copyright]. This/these work(s) has/have been posted to your service without permission from me on behalf of the college or with direct permission from the college. Therefore, on behalf of the college, these works are to be removed from your website.
Claimant name: [Your name]
Contact information: [business address, email, & phone number]
I request that you remove the infringing material immediately. Please contact me at the email listed above indicating your prompt response.
[Name]
[Date]
* Templates used with permission from J. Snell copyright@brocku.ca