Copibec—Educator Space

To access SAMUEL, your institution must have a Copibec licence and a Savia account. Your Savia code gives you access to SAMUEL. Contact us to find out more! SAMUEL: www.copibecdigital.ca (English version coming soon).

For a translated work, the copyright does not expire until the translator has also been deceased for more than 50 years. For example, a recent translation into French of a work by Shakespeare will be protected by copyright and may require permission in order for copies to be made. The same principle would apply to an adapted work.

The publication date is not taken into consideration. For instance, even if a work was published 60 years ago, it will still be protected by copyright as long as its author has not been deceased for at least 50 years. Permission may therefore be needed to copy excerpts from that work.

However, you are allowed to copy an entire book if it is in the public domain.

However, the copying licence from Copibec authorizes you to copy a play as long as it is part of another work (e.g. an anthology of plays), its length does not exceed the licence’s limits and it is not on the Exclusions List.

The Adel inc. virtual bookstore of the Association québécoise des auteurs dramatiques (AQAD) also offers plays that can be purchased. Those plays can be copied in their entirety if the applicable royalties (licence fees) are paid.

In addition, an entire play can be copied if it is in the public domain.

The federal government and the provinces and territories other than Quebec, Manitoba and Nunavut frequently authorize the copying of other types of government publications as well. To determine whether copying is allowed, refer to the conditions of use for each work or contact the relevant government’s publications department.

The copying licence from Copibec gives you permission to copy publications from Quebec government ministries or Publications du Québec unless a notice on the work already authorizes copying for educational purposes.

• Author’s name
• Title of the work
• Publisher
• Publication place and year
• Page numbers copied

• the work has been made available with the copyright owner’s consent (it is preferable to consult the websites of authors and publishers or official sites and avoid file sharing sites)
• there is no clearly visible notice prohibiting the use of the work or a technological measure that limits access to the work.

The document source and bibliographic references must be indicated.

If you are not sure whether copying is allowed, please contact Copibec or the copyright owner to request permission.

However, the Copibec licence authorizes works to be copied as long as they have been made available to the public with the copyright owner’s consent, they were published in the print or digital version of a book, newspaper, magazine or periodical and they do not appear on the Exclusions List.

Digitizing means scanning a work so that it can be used, for example, in a PowerPoint presentation or PDF file, on a smartboard or intranet page or sent by email.

Yes, the agreement allows you to make digital format copies of excerpts from works.

The copies must comply with the terms and conditions of the print format licence. In particular, the copying limits must be respected, coursepacks must not be produced, and works that can be purchased must not be replaced by a copy.

For example, you can digitize or rekey (retype) an excerpt from a work, make a digital format copy of an excerpt from a digital work and print out a digital format copy.

Those copies may then be used on a tablet or computer, downloaded onto a USB flash drive, uploaded to your school’s secure intranet to make them available to students or sent to students via email (from a school or school board email address).

When digital format copies are communicated or transmitted, they must be accompanied by a clearly visible notice that prohibits the following:

• Printing out more than one copy
• Making any other copies or transmitting the excerpts except in the context of communications with the teacher or other students for team projects or participatory work

Each copy must accurately represent the original. Works made available without the copyright owner’s permission cannot be copied. Combining excerpts from works originating from multiple sources is not allowed but combining excerpts as part of a digital presentation or slideshow is allowed.

It should be noted that you have to report digital format copies to Copibec in the same way as print format copies (data collection process) so that royalties (licence fees) can be paid to the copyright owners.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us or request an information session.

Works not available in digital format
Under the agreement, you can make one copy of an entire work that is not commercially available in digital format in order to display it (on a smartboard, for example) or use a document camera to project an entire work as long as a few original versions of the work are available to students at the time the work is being displayed.

Works available in digital format
An entire work that was legitimately acquired in digital format can be displayed using a smartboard. However, in the case of legitimately acquired digital format works specifically designed for preschool, elementary or high school education purposes, you are only allowed to project them on a smartboard if all the students have original versions of the work or if the work comes with a publisher’s licence that allows such use.

No. Certain publishers’ titles and certain works can be photocopied but cannot be digitized. If a publisher or title appears on the Exclusions List for digital format copying, you have to submit a request to Copibec before making a digital format copy. Copibec will forward the request to the copyright owner and, if permission is granted, a fee will be set for the pages that you want to copy.

You therefore have an essential role to play so the royalties can be paid to the people whose works were actually used. Copies (paper and digital) can be reported to Copibec by using Savia, our online copyright licensing and rights management system.

For example, dysphasia, dyslexia and pervasive development disorders are considered perceptual disabilities.

Determining what is fair dealing requires a case-by-case analysis. In general, it refers to a short excerpt from a work used for one of the purposes designated in the Act. However, neither the Copyright Act nor the courts have specified a percentage or number of pages that can be copied under the fair dealing exception.

As a result, even though fair dealing for educational purposes is sometimes interpreted as meaning up to 10% of a work or an entire chapter, that interpretation is not founded on the wording of the Act or any ruling by Canadian courts.

Thanks to the Copibec licence, educational institutions and teaching personnel can make copies without having to do a case-by-case analysis. The licence therefore simplifies copyright management when copyright protected material is used, reduces the related costs and helps ensure that the institutions can operate smoothly while providing fair compensation to copyright owners.

The Copibec licence allows excerpts to be copied from works for distance learning purposes, including digital format copies made available on the educational institution’s intranet for students participating from a remote location.

Educational institutions are also allowed to film a lesson (as defined in the Copyright Act) during which a copyright protected work is used and then make that film available for distance learning purposes by students enrolled in the course. The excerpt from the work must be included in the filmed lesson and not attached as a separate file.

You are required to comply with all the terms and conditions of the Copibec copying licence. The lesson may be retained until the licence expires.

For more information, please do not hesitate to contact us.