Library Services – Copyright Information for Students
What is copyright?
Copyright is the legal protection of literary, dramatic, artistic, and musical works, sound recordings, performances, and communication signals. Copyright provides creators with the legal right to be paid for -- and to control the use of -- their creations. Under Fair Dealing there are five provisions for using copyright materials without permission.
What is plagiarism?
To plagiarize is to steal or pass off as one’s own (the idea or words of another); use (a created production) without crediting the source; to commit literary theft; present as new and original an idea or product derived from an existing source (Webster’s Third New International Dictionary of the English Language, Unabridged, p. 1728).
What is “cyber-plagiarism”?
"Cyber-plagiarism" is the term used to describe the process by which students either copy ideas found on the Web without giving proper attribution, or the process by which students download research papers from the Web, in whole or in part, and submit the paper as original work. The phenomenon of cyber-plagiarism is affecting colleges and universities around the globe.
(University of Alberta Libraries, http://www.library.ualberta.ca/guides/plagiarism/index.cfm)
What is ACCESS Copyright?
ACCESS Copyright is a Canadian copyright collective that acts on behalf of copyright holders. Sheridan Library has signed an Agreement with ACCESS Copyright and, as a member of the academic community, you are obligated to honour the terms of this Agreement.
What can you copy?
This brief Access Copyright guide will help you understand what you may copy.
What You CAN’T copy…
- Systematic cumulative copying is prohibited, meaning that you cannot copy 10% of a publication one day, 10% the next, and so on.
- You may NOT copy any works excluded from the agreement with Access Copyright, specifically the following:
- Print music
- Workbooks and instruction manuals
- Newsletters
- Letters to the editor
- Advertisements
- Works published by the Government of Canada or any province or territory (excluding the Province of Québec) Unpublished and nonprint copyright materials such as originals of artistic works
For answers to specific copyright related questions, please go to