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Copyright

Copyright FAQs
Copyright at Seneca
Contact theservicehub@senecapolytechnic.ca

Understanding copyright is essential to teaching and learning. This page highlights key tips and resources to help you make informed decisions about using copyrighted content in your courses. For more information, visit the Copyright at Seneca guide or reach out to the Copyright Team.

Copyright Resources & Tips

 Copyright Best Practices

If you must copy from or reuse copyrighted materials, follow fair dealing guidelines. This includes:

  • Only copying a short excerpt (e.g., less than 10% of the work, one image from an article)
  • Providing attribution to the material. It’s not required to use citation styles such as APA or MLA. A simple attribution that includes the source (e.g., name and link) and the creator (e.g., name or username) is sufficient
  • Posting the material to Blackboard, if possible, so that it’s only accessible to your students

For additional guidance, check out the Fair Dealing page or contact theservicehub@senecapolytechnic.ca.

There have been reports of Seneca teaching materials being found on commercial note sharing websites such as Course Hero and OneClass. It is a violation of copyright for anyone to post material that is not theirs on these sites without permission from the copyright owner. This includes faculty-created class notes and presentations, course readings, and supplementary materials from publishers. To help protect materials, make students aware that posting course materials to note sharing sites violates copyright. Consider adding a copyright statement on the course outline and/or relevant course materials. Check out Commercial Note Sharing for a sample statement.

There are many openly licensed online resources, including images and videos, which can be used without seeking permission from the copyright owner. This includes content in the public domain and materials licensed under Creative Commons. Check out these resources for content with open licenses:

As an expert in your field, you are best at determining which information and resources will be relevant for your course. If you're not sure how to start searching for copyright-friendly resources for your course, your liaison librarians can point you in the right direction! They can help by showing you library and other online resources in your subject area, providing a sample list of articles and other resources, and sharing tips on navigating these resources. Connect with your liaison librarian for more information.

Sharing Course Materials

The following options are practical, copyright-compliant ways to support your students’ learning. Reach out to the Copyright Team if you have any questions or need guidance.

The library subscribes to a wide range of databases that provide access to eBooks, scholarly articles, streaming videos, and more. Instead of uploading files, faculty are encouraged to create persistent links to these resources in Blackboard.

  • Linking ensures copyright compliance and reduces access issues.
  • Most resources can be accessed off-campus using institutional credentials.
  • If a resource isn’t currently available in our collection, consider submitting a Recommendation for Library Purchase.

Looking to streamline your course readings? Ask your liaison librarians about using Leganto, a course resource list tool. Leganto integrates with Blackboard and allows you to:

  • Easily add persistent links to library resources
  • Share faculty-authored files, YouTube videos, websites, and more
  • Ensure all shared content is copyright compliant

OERs are free, openly licensed materials that you can use, share, and adapt without needing permission. These include textbooks, videos, and more.

Canada’s Copyright Act allows for the use of short excerpts of copyrighted materials for educational purposes, under the fair dealing exception.

When using fair dealing:

  • Limit excerpts to one chapter or up to 10% of a work
  • Share only through secure platforms like Blackboard
  • Include a full citation or attribution to the source
  • Avoid posting multiple excerpts from the same work over time

Not sure if your use qualifies as fair dealing? The Copyright Team can help review materials, or see the Fair Dealing page for more information.

Original teaching materials you’ve developed, including lecture slides, handouts, assessments, and recordings, can typically be shared with your students through platforms like Blackboard.

  • If your materials were developed in collaboration with others, you may want to confirm how they can be shared.
  • If you have questions about using, adapting, or reusing your materials across courses or platforms, the Copyright Team is happy to help.

Textbooks often come with additional instructor resources from the publisher, such as PowerPoint slides, test banks, and instructor manuals. These are protected by copyright and typically licensed for instructor use only.

  • Before sharing, modifying, or uploading these materials, always review the licence or terms of use to confirm what is permitted.
  • For publisher-provided slides, instructors can usually add content to slides (text or images) but are not allowed to remove or reproduce the content from the slides, unless stated in the publisher's terms of use.

If you’d like to use a full article, chapter, or other copyrighted work that doesn’t fall under fair dealing or licence terms, you can request permission from the copyright holder.

Copyright Literacy Modules

The self-paced Copyright Literacy modules were designed to help faculty understand their rights and responsibilities when using and sharing content in academic settings. These modules cover common teaching scenarios and offer practical guidance to help you stay copyright-compliant.

Copyright Literacy Modules

 

Student Copyright Tutorials

In addition to the faculty/staff copyright training modules, the library has also developed the following self-paced tutorials for students:

Fair Dealing Assessment Tool

Fair Dealing is an exemption or user’s right in the Copyright Act that allows the copying of materials without permission under certain conditions. Seneca Libraries has developed a Fair Dealing Assessment Tool, which helps faculty determine if materials can be used under the Copyright Act.

Disclaimer: This page is intended for informational purposes only and was created for Seneca Polytechnic faculty, students, and staff. All other users are encouraged to verify copyright guidelines with their own institution. This site is maintained by library staff and is not reviewed by legal counsel.
Creative Commons License This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.