Copyright For Faculty & Staff

Niagara College Libraries subscribes to several video streaming databases, which are fully licensed alternatives to YouTube.

For example, check out the thousands of educational videos available through Films on Demand:

You may show videos in your class under the following conditions:

• The work is being shown for the purpose of education or training.
• The work is being shown on the premises of an educational institution.
• The work is being shown to an audience consisting of students.
• The copy of the work is not an illegal or infringing copy.

For more information refer to Section 29.5(d) of the Copyright Act.

NOTE:.

•  College clubs and associations must obtain Public Performance Rights when screening films for non educational purposes.
•  Personal "on demand" subscriptions (iTunes, Bell, Rogers, Netflix etc.) CANNOT be screened in class due to licensing restrictions.

Showing videos for the following purposes would NOT be considered fair dealing and would require a licence:

• outside of normal school teaching hours
• for non-curriculum related purposes
• during breaks, lunch time, or before/after school programs
• for holiday purposes
• during administrative or other meetings
• as part of student union or activity programs
• for fund-raising purposes
• where the general public is invited

Please contact the Library for information on how to obtain a licence.

Before you post any videos to Niagara College's Streaming Server, contact your campus Library.  Since every case is different, we will work with you to ensure all of the necessary permissions have been obtained.

Videos on the internet (i.e.,YouTube and other video hosting sites) are copyrighted works. It is essential to check to see who posted the video to verify if it is a legal copy. Although, it is the responsibility of the YouTube uploader to clear copyright, as an educational institution we should be making every effort to find the most reliable source or channel in YouTube.  For example, look for items from uploaders such as abc, cbc learning, msn, etc., instead of someone named JumpingJenny. Streaming directly from the original website is the recommended practice. 

**Please note that you MUST check the terms of use for any material you wish to stream in class, whether they are from YouTube or not.  The link to this information is usually found at the bottom of websites.

For example, check out this information from CBC, which clearly states you CANNOT freely stream their videos in your classroom.

An individual can use copyrighted works such as images, videos, music, text, etc. in the creation of a new work (e.g. modifying a mathematical table, creating an instructional video, creating slides or documents) as long as the mash-up meets the following conditions (Section 29.21 of Copyright Act):

1. The mash-up can only be used for non-commercial purposes
2. The original work that is being used to create the mash-up must be cited
3. The original work used in the creation of the mash-up must be a legal copy.
4. The mash-up cannot effect the economic market of the original work
5. The user creating the mash-up cannot circumvent a TPM or digital lock in the creation of the mash-up.

(public domain image from openclipart.org)

Always follow fair dealing guidelines or the terms of use/Creative Commons licence requirements associated with a work and ensure the video was not posted illegally.

How to create a Creative Commons attribute.