Council of Ministers of Education, Canada

 

Fair Dealing Decision Tool

The Fair Dealing Decision Tool allows teachers to determine whether copying requires copyright permission or is permitted without permission because it falls within the Fair Dealing Guidelines.

Copyright and Fair Dealing in schools

Make sure you're in the know... 

Did you know that teachers can use “short excerpts” of copyright-protected works
in their lessons because of the fair-dealing provision in the Copyright Act?

Did you know that, as a teacher, if you fail to follow the Fair Dealing Guidelines,
you are at risk of copyright infringement, and you, your school, and your school board
can be held responsible for damages?

To learn how fair dealing impacts lesson planning and the use of copyright-protected works, teachers and school staff are encouraged to:

1. Print a copy of the Fair Dealing Guidelines and Teachers’ Use of  “Consumables” for personal reference;
   
   

   

   

2. Bookmark FairDealingDecisionTool.ca on your phone.
   
   

 

You need to know and use the Fair Dealing Guidelines.

 

Your reference materials:

• FairDealingDecisionTool.ca
  This online tool allows teachers to determine in a few clicks whether a specific use is fair dealing.
• Fair Dealing Guidelines (colour poster)
  This poster describes the rights, obligations, and limits of fair dealing in the classroom.
  
• Teachers’ Use of “Consumables” (colour poster)
  This poster describes the strict prohibition on copying, scanning, or printing materials intended for one-time use.
• Copyright Matters!, 4^th Edition
  This booklet provides teachers with user-friendly advice on classroom activities that do not require copyright permission.
• Copyright compliance checklists
  This checklist outlines the things that principals and teachers need to do to be copyright compliant.
• Copyright law impacts what teachers can copy for their students
  This document explains the copyright rules governing the use of publicly available material on the Internet and fair dealing for educational purposes.
• Teachers' use of "fair dealing" in the classroom
  This document explains that short excerpts from published works, books, magazines, films, television programs, recordings, and music can be used for educational purposes.
• Teachers' use of Internet materials in the classroom
  This document explains that teachers and students can legally perform routine classroom activities using publicly available Internet material.