Copibec—Educator Space

Who is Copibec?

Copibec, whose official name is the Société québécoise de gestion collective des droits de reproduction, is a not-for-profit organization that operates as the Quebec copyright licensing agency. Our mission is to manage reproduction rights for published works and their digital versions on behalf of copyright owners. We manage the rights for millions of books, newspaper articles, magazines, specialized periodicals, song lyrics, and much more.

By managing the reproduction rights for most Canadian and foreign publications (Copibec represents nearly 30 countries under reciprocal agreements), we provide one-stop service so that a wide spectrum of Quebec users can quickly and easily get permission for occasional copying or take advantage of comprehensive copying licences that cover their ongoing needs.

Copibec is a member of the International Federation of Reproduction Rights Organisations (IFRRO), which represents reproduction rights organizations as well as associations of authors and publishers from all over the world. 

Why do we need a copying agreement?

Canada’s Copyright Act generally does not allow you to make copies without the copyright owner’s permission unless the expected use falls under one of the specified exceptions. As a result, teaching personnel who want to copy articles or excerpts from published works for their students need to request permission from the publisher or author for every text copied. Managing those requests one by one would obviously involve a lot of work for both the copyright owner and you as a user.

To streamline and speed up the permission process, copyright owners have set up Copibec, which has the authority to issue comprehensive copying licences on their behalf.

Agreement

College institutions in Quebec represented by the Fédération des cégeps and the Association des collèges privés have signed a licensing agreement with Copibec authorizing them to make print and digital format copies within certain limits. To quickly check whether your college or CEGEP is covered by the agreement, click here.

In consideration for the right to make copies, college institutions pay Copibec an annual fee to ensure that the authors and publishers of the copied excerpts receive royalties (licence fees) for the use of their works.

Teaching and administrative personnel in colleges and CEGEPs are required to respect the terms and conditions of the agreement and are responsible for compiling copying data for Copibec.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us!

Types of copying allowed

Under the licensing agreement, you are allowed to make print or digital format copies for a specific group of students during a specific semester as long as you respect the following limits:

• 15% of a work from Copibec’s repertoire

Although, works specifically made for college teaching (student books, teacher’s manuals, anthologies, etc.) have a different reproduction limit of:

• 10% or 25 pages, whichever is less.

For example, those limits represent:

• 6 pages from a novel or general purpose book containing 40 pages (15%)
• 3-page article from a magazine containing 20 pages (15%)
• 6 pages of sheet music from a collection totaling 40 pages (15%)
• 45 pages from a reference book containing a total of 300 pages (15%)
• 25 pages from a 300-page teacher’s manual made for college teaching (lesser of 10% or 25 pages)
• 20 pages from a 200-page anthology made for college teaching (lesser of 10% or 25 pages)
• Lyrics to a song

Visual works (illustrations, photos, paintings, charts, diagrams, etc.) appearing in another work (book, newspaper, magazine, etc.) can also be copied under the agreement’s terms and conditions.

Digital copying

In addition to traditional print format copying methods (photocopying or xerography, stencil duplicating or drawing), the agreement also authorizes digital format copying. In other words, within the scope of the agreement’s limits and conditions, you can do the following:

• Scan a print format work to make a digital copy
• Print that digital copy
• Store digital copies of articles, excerpts from works or coursepacks on a secure network and make them accessible to students in a course
• Send a coursepack electronically to a student, provided the transmission is done by an authorized third party
• Present a print or digital format copy (made in compliance with the agreement) in class using a projector, computer or any other equivalent device
• Fax excerpts from works

Please note that you are strictly prohibited from making works in the Copibec repertoire available on an unsecured computer network (e.g. Internet or any other public network), transmitting those works to non-employees or non-students, or storing those works in order to create a digital library.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us!

Bibliographic references

All copies distributed to students must contain bibliographic references. Under the Copyright Act, authors have the right to be associated with their works. The author’s name therefore has to be shown on all copied excerpts.

A complete bibliographic reference consists of the following:

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

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us!

Exclusions List

Copibec’s Exclusions List indicates the works and categories of works that are excluded from the copying agreement.

To copy works on the Exclusions List, you have to make arrangements directly with the copyright owner (publisher or author, as applicable).

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us!

Pay-per-use licences

You need to request a pay-per-use licence (specific authorization) from Copibec for any copying that exceeds the agreement’s authorized limits or any use that is not covered by the agreement:

• Copying beyond the licenced limits
• Digital format copying not covered by the agreement
• Uses not covered by the agreement (e.g. continuing education services for businesses or education services outside Canada)

The fee for copies not covered by the agreement is $0.12 per page, up to a maximum of 20% of the total number of pages in the work. If you would like to copy more than 20%, Copibec will contact the copyright owner on your behalf to request permission and, if applicable, confirm the applicable fee.

If you are not sure which types of copying are covered, please do not hesitate to contact us!

Copy logs and reporting

What is the data used for?

In order for the royalties (licence fees) collected from college institutions to be distributed individually among authors and publishers, Copibec needs to obtain data that identifies the works copied and confirms the number of copies made.

You have an essential role to play in this process. Thanks to your participation, the collected royalties can be paid to the authors and publishers of the works that you copy as part of your professional duties.

Who has to report their copies? Which copies have to be reported?

According to a statistical model that takes the institutions’ profiles into account, colleges and CEGEPs with more than 700 full time students have to report the copies they make under the copying agreement. Users have to report all copies made in digital format and all copies inserted into coursepacks or course notes in print format. To know if your college must report their copies, please contact us.

How can copies be reported?

Users can submit their data to Copibec by using any of the following methods:

• Savia, Copibec’s online reporting system
• Designated Excel copy log worksheet (available on request)
• DDA system from Dexero
• Repro + system from Altilogix

Reporting deadlines

The data must be submitted electronically according to the following schedule:

• January 31 for copies made between July 1 and December 31
• July 31 for copies made between January 1 and June 30

Data can also be compiled online at any time before those dates.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us!

Get it now

Copibec is pleased to offer Get It Now to colleges, CEGEPs and universities in Quebec.

Get It Now was developed by the U.S. Copyright Clearance Center in cooperation with the education sector and is an essential complement to your institution’s inter-library lending services. Do you need a scientific article that isn’t available in your library? Get It Now! In minutes, the article will be ready for use as a high-quality PDF.

This solution can be integrated into your library catalogue. The Get It Now option is displayed only if the selected article cannot be obtained through an existing subscription at your institution. After articles have been purchased, they can usually be copied and shared according to the terms and conditions of your Copibec copying licence.

Get It Now is an automated service available 24/7!

The integrated dashboard lets libraries manage their needs and monitor their budgets. For example, you can use the dashboard to:

• Designate who has access to the platform
• Authorize access only through your institution’s email addresses
• Limit the number of requests per user or set a purchase limit
• Be notified via email when you’re nearing your limit
• Generate usage reports

Installation is free. You pay only the costs of the ordered articles and annual administrative fees corresponding to 5% of the total purchase amount. Copibec takes care of distributing and supporting Get It Now in Quebec.

You can now enjoy access to millions of scientific articles from leading international publishers through Get It Now.

for more information about this cutting-edge solution!