Copyright, Fair Dealing, and Images

This resource provides a set of guidelines for students using and creating visual materials. It is not meant to be legal advice.

What is copyright?

Copyright is the legal means through which creators control the use and reproduction of their intellectual and artistic works. The Copyright Act (R.S.C. 1985, c. C-42) governs copyright in Canada and, like other copyright acts and agreements, its aim is to protect the economic and moral rights of creators while providing reasonable access to their created works in support of culture and to benefit society as a whole.

What rights are granted through copyright?

Economic rights: Copyright grants creators the economic right to benefit financially from the exploitation of their works by either selling access to their work (i.e. licensing) or by selling their rights to the work itself.

Copyright owners have the sole right to authorize others to exercise any of his or her rights. Therefore, copyright protects authors’ works from being copied, performed, communicated to the public, adapted or translated, or distributed without the permission of the copyright holder.

Moral rights: Along with copyright, authors also have moral rights that are meant to protect their personality or reputation and the integrity of their work. Depending on a country’s copyright laws, moral rights allow creators to require attribution and restrict certain changes to and uses of their work.

The moral rights of a creator can include the right of attribution (to be acknowledged as the author of a work or to choose to remain anonymous), the right to control associations with the work (for example, a product, cause or institution), and the right to protect the integrity of a work (to prevent modifications which may damage one’s reputation).

What types of images are protected?

Images fall under the blanket term artistic works in the Canadian Copyright Act, which includes paintings, drawings, maps, charts, plans, photographs, engravings, works of artistic craftsmanship, and compilations of artistic works (sculptures and architectural works are also included under artistic works).

• Photographs are further delineated to include photo-lithographs and any work expressed by a process analogous to photography (therefore open to technologies as yet unknown). Please note that photographs can have different rules of ownership and various copyright durations.

• Engravings include etchings, lithographs, woodcuts, prints, and other similar works not considered photographs.

Copyright protection is automatically provided for the types of works listed above; therefore, when using images begin by assuming that all images may be protected by copyright. It is your responsibility to use images ethically with an awareness of possible copyright restrictions.

What is the Fair Dealing Exception?

Creative Commons Licenses and Images in the Public Domain

Fair dealing, an exception in the Copyright Act, allows for the use of copyright protected material for the purpose of education and research. However if the scope of your work goes beyond educational, you should select images that are appropriate for a broad variety of uses. Whenever possible choose images under less restrictive Creative Commons licenses or images that have entered the public domain. See Finding Creative Commons and Public Domain Images for search tips and resources.


Chris Barbara, Carleton University from the South, 2007, Wikimedia Commons. Retrieved from https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Carleton_Uni2.jpg.
Image released into the public domain by author.

Creative Commons Licenses

Creative Commons Licenses provide creators with a set of conditions they can choose to apply to their work. These licenses are meant to be legal tools that help manage the copyright terms that attach automatically to all creative material. See Creative Commons: Frequently asked Questions for more details. Be aware that a Creative Commons license is a contract, so always be sure to read the terms and conditions of each license type.

• Attribution CC BY: This license allows you to distribute, alter, and build upon an image, even commercially, as long you credit the original. This is the most accommodating of licenses offered. Recommended for maximum dissemination and use of licensed materials.
• Attribution-ShareAlike CC BY-SA: This license allows you to use and alter an image even for commercial purposes, as long as you give credit and license your new work under the identical terms. This is the license used by Wikipedia, and is recommended for materials that would benefit from incorporating content from Wikipedia and similarly licensed projects.
• Attribution-Noderivs CC BY-ND: This license allows for redistribution, commercial and non-commercial, as long as it is passed along unchanged and in whole, with credit given to the original creator.
• Attribution-NonCommercial CC BY-NC: This license lets you remix, tweak, and build upon an image non-commercially, and although your new work must also acknowledge the original creator and be non-commercial, you don’t have to license your derivative work on the same terms.
• Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike CC BY NC-SA: This license lets you remix, tweak, and build upon an image for non-commercial purposes, as long as you credit and license your new creation under identical terms.
• Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs CC BY NC-ND: This license allows you to download images and share them as long as you credit the creator, but you can not alter them in any way or use them commercially. This is the most restrictive license offer by Creative Commons.¹

Creators can also make their work freely available to the public without restriction by dedicating it to the public domain:

• Public Domain Dedication CC0: This symbol indicates that a creator has chosen to opt out of copyright and has dedicated their work to the public domain. You can freely use images accompanied by this symbol and, though attribution is not necessary, it is recommended that you properly cite a CC0 image if using it in your academic work.

Images in the Public Domain

Images in the public domain are not protected by copyright or by other legal means and are therefore free to use for any purpose. If an image is public domain it means that either its term of protection under copyright has expired, it was never eligible for protection in the first place, or that the creator has chosen to waive their copyright and has made their work freely and unconditionally available for use by the public. See Public Domain Sherpa: "Let's start at the beginning, with a definition of public domain" for a definition of the public domain and how to find out if a work is in the public domain.

• Public domain images do not require you to seek the permission of a creator, though you should always properly attribute these images so that others can find and reference them.
• Do not assume that an image without a copyright symbol or the term “all rights reserved” is in the public domain. Copyright is automatic so these indicators are not necessary for a work to be protected. Anyone can put a public domain notice on another person’s image so always investigate to ensure that this is indeed the case.

Remember:

• Just because you find an image online does not mean that it’s free to use. Copyright is automatic in Canada so always assume any images you find are protected by copyright.
• Before using an image you find online, you should always determine its original source.
• The usage rights attached to an online image always determine the extent to which you can use it. Always check licensing and usage terms.
• If in doubt about the status of an image and if no clear terms of use are indicated, either ask permission to use the image or choose another image.

Additional resources:

Creative Commons CC Licenses and Examples

Creative Commons: Understanding Free Cultural Works

Creative Commons Wiki “Best Practices for Attribution”

Creative Commons Wiki “Public Domain”

Ethics in Graphic Design: Image Usage Rights

Public Domain Sherpa: “Public domain or copyrighted? Here’s how to tell”

^1. Descriptions of licenses adapted from the Creative Commons website “About the licenses” page, accessed November 4, 2016, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/. Content on the Creative Commons website is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Educational Image Use and Fair Dealing: Tips and Guidelines

This resource provides a set of guidelines for students using and creating visual materials. It is not meant to be legal advice.

Remember: The fair dealing exemption does not apply if the image is commercially available on the Canadian market in a medium that is appropriate for the intended purpose, and can be acquired within a reasonable time and for a reasonable price.

Using Images within the Parameters of Fair Dealing

• Copying digital images, scanning, and screenshots
  • Making a scan from a book, downloading a digital file from the web, or capturing online image content with a screenshot for use in your academic work falls within the limitations set out by the fair dealing exception when the number of copies remains limited and the use of the copies is strictly within the context of an educational institution. You may also use these copies if the images are covered by a license that allows for educational use or where no permission is required, such as a public domain work.
• Displaying and handing out images in class
  • Under fair dealing educators and students can display a copyrighted image in the classroom or elsewhere on university premises for educational purposes. Copied images can also be included in a class hand-out. In both cases, you must adhere to the restrictions that may be copied under fair dealing. If for example, you wish to post multiple images from a book, you may do so as long as those images amount to no more than 10% of the book. Try and use as many different sources as possible for you materials. Remember: The extent to which you use an image is also a consideration. If you reuse a copyright protected image repeatedly in multiple and various course materials, you could be moving beyond the limits of fair dealing.
• Sharing images on a website and Brightspace
  • Adhering to fair dealing means that distribution is limited. If you are adding the copyright protected image to a website you need to ensure that the website is password protected (e.g. Brightspace) and restricted to students enrolled in your course. If your intended use falls outside the terms of use stipulated by the image source, then you will need to seek the copyright owner’s permission.
• Using images found online
  • When using image resources from the Internet you should always check the website's "Terms of Use" or "Legal Notices" section to confirm what conditions apply to use of the website's material, including whether educational use is explicitly prohibited. Many websites will allow non-commercial educational use of their materials.
  • You can also chose to use low resolution images or thumbnails, which do not compete with the commercial interest of copyright owners, or link to images rather than posting them on a class website. Always ensure that the content to which you are linking is not itself in violation of copyright.
• Using images in presentations and posters
  • As mentioned above, displaying images on university grounds and as part of course work is permissible under fair dealing, but always be mindful of the purpose and extent to which you use copyright protected work. If your presentation is going to be recorded and uploaded to YouTube or if your poster, which began as part of course work is adapted and used for non-educational or commercial purposes, you will need to reassess the images you have included to ensure that you are not in violation of copyright. You may need to seek permission from the creator/copyright holder or change the image to one that permits your intended use.
  • Best practice is to always give credit to the author of an image and cite your source. If you are using multiple images in a presentation then include a final slide with thumbnails of every image used with proper attribution. See Customizing Image Credit Lines and Captions for guidance on how to cite images by project type. Remember: Explicitly citing an image source is not a replacement for obtaining copyright permission if it is required.
• Adding work that includes copyright protected images to open access repositories like Carleton’s CURVE
  • If the extent to which you use a copyright protected image moves beyond fair dealing, for example the research paper you submitted through Brightspace as part of course work is going to be added to an open access institutional repository like Carleton’s CURVE, then you need to re-assess the images included to ensure that you will not be violating copyright.¹

^1. This section on educational image use was adapted from the University of Waterloo's "Frequently Asked Questions" from Copyright Guidelines, accessed March 20, 2016, https://uwaterloo.ca/copyright-guidelines/faq-page. This content on the University of Waterloo website is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 2.5 Canada License.

Additional Resources for Using Images in Academic Work:

College Art Association Code of Best Practices in Fair Use for the Visual Arts
Similar to "fair dealing" in Canada, "fair use" is the U.S. legal doctrine that permits a limited use of copyright protected materials under certain conditions. This code provides a set of principles addressing best practices in the fair use of copyrighted materials. It describes how fair use can be invoked and implemented when using copyrighted materials in scholarship, teaching, museums, archives, and in the creation of art.

Digital Image Rights Computator (DIRC)
The Digital Image Rights Computator (DIRC) program is intended to assist the user in assessing the intellectual property status of a specific image documenting a work of art, a designed object, or a portion of the built environment.

Visual Resource Association Statement on the Fair Use of Images For Teaching Research and Study
This document describes the six uses of copyrighted still images that the Visual Resources Association (VRA) believes fall within the U.S. doctrine of fair use. The six uses are: (1) preservation; (2) the use of images for teaching purposes; (3) the use of images on course websites and in other online study materials; (4) adaptations of images for teaching and classroom work by students; (5) sharing images among educational and cultural institutions to facilitate teaching and study; and (6) the reproduction of images in theses and dissertations.

University of Washington Libraries Ethical Image Use Checklist
This checklist will help you work through the ethical considerations and issues involved in using and producing images.