Copyright Act (R.S.C., 1985, c. C-42)

Marginal note:Work available through Internet

• 30.04 (1) Subject to subsections (2) to (5), it is not an infringement of copyright for an educational institution, or a person acting under the authority of one, to do any of the following acts for educational or training purposes in respect of a work or other subject-matter that is available through the Internet:

  • (a) reproduce it;

  • (b) communicate it to the public by telecommunication, if that public primarily consists of students of the educational institution or other persons acting under its authority;

  • (c) perform it in public, if that public primarily consists of students of the educational institution or other persons acting under its authority; or

  • (d) do any other act that is necessary for the purpose of the acts referred to in paragraphs (a) to (c).

• Marginal note:Conditions

  (2) Subsection (1) does not apply unless the educational institution or person acting under its authority, in doing any of the acts described in that subsection in respect of the work or other subject-matter, mentions the following:

  • (a) the source; and

  • (b) if given in the source, the name of

    • (i) the author, in the case of a work,

    • (ii) the performer, in the case of a performer’s performance,

    • (iii) the maker, in the case of a sound recording, and

    • (iv) the broadcaster, in the case of a communication signal.

• Marginal note:Non-application

  (3) Subsection (1) does not apply if the work or other subject-matter — or the Internet site where it is posted — is protected by a technological protection measure that restricts access to the work or other subject-matter or to the Internet site.

• Marginal note:Non-application

  (4) Subsection (1) does not permit a person to do any act described in that subsection in respect of a work or other subject-matter if

  • (a) that work or other subject-matter — or the Internet site where it is posted — is protected by a technological protection measure that restricts the doing of that act; or

  • (b) a clearly visible notice — and not merely the copyright symbol — prohibiting that act is posted at the Internet site where the work or other subject-matter is posted or on the work or other subject-matter itself.

• Marginal note:Non-application

  (5) Subsection (1) does not apply if the educational institution or person acting under its authority knows or should have known that the work or other subject-matter was made available through the Internet without the consent of the copyright owner.

• Marginal note:Regulations

  (6) The Governor in Council may make regulations for the purposes of paragraph (4)(b) prescribing what constitutes a clearly visible notice.

Libraries, Archives and Museums

Marginal note:Management and maintenance of collection

• 30.1 (1) It is not an infringement of copyright for a library, archive or museum or a person acting under the authority of a library, archive or museum to make, for the maintenance or management of its permanent collection or the permanent collection of another library, archive or museum, a copy of a work or other subject-matter, whether published or unpublished, in its permanent collection

  • (a) if the original is rare or unpublished and is

    • (i) deteriorating, damaged or lost, or

    • (ii) at risk of deterioration or becoming damaged or lost;

  • (b) for the purposes of on-site consultation if the original cannot be viewed, handled or listened to because of its condition or because of the atmospheric conditions in which it must be kept;

  • (c) in an alternative format if the library, archive or museum or a person acting under the authority of the library, archive or museum considers that the original is currently in a format that is obsolete or is becoming obsolete, or that the technology required to use the original is unavailable or is becoming unavailable;

  • (d) for the purposes of internal record-keeping and cataloguing;

  • (e) for insurance purposes or police investigations; or

  • (f) if necessary for restoration.

• Marginal note:Limitation

  (2) Paragraphs (1)(a) to (c) do not apply where an appropriate copy is commercially available in a medium and of a quality that is appropriate for the purposes of subsection (1).

• Marginal note:Destruction of intermediate copies

  (3) If a person must make an intermediate copy in order to make a copy under subsection (1), the person must destroy the intermediate copy as soon as it is no longer needed.

• Marginal note:Regulations

  (4) The Governor in Council may make regulations with respect to the procedure for making copies under subsection (1).

Marginal note:Research or private study

• 30.2 (1) It is not an infringement of copyright for a library, archive or museum or a person acting under its authority to do anything on behalf of any person that the person may do personally under section 29 or 29.1.

• Marginal note:Copies of articles for research, etc.

  (2) It is not an infringement of copyright for a library, archive or museum or a person acting under the authority of a library, archive or museum to make, by reprographic reproduction, for any person requesting to use the copy for research or private study, a copy of a work that is, or that is contained in, an article published in

  • (a) a scholarly, scientific or technical periodical; or

  • (b) a newspaper or periodical, other than a scholarly, scientific or technical periodical, if the newspaper or periodical was published more than one year before the copy is made.

• Marginal note:Restriction

  (3) Paragraph (2)(b) does not apply in respect of a work of fiction or poetry or a dramatic or musical work.

• Marginal note:Conditions

  (4) A library, archive or museum may provide the person for whom the copy is made under subsection (2) with the copy only on the condition that

  • (a) the person is provided with a single copy of the work; and

  • (b) the library, archive or museum informs the person that the copy is to be used solely for research or private study and that any use of the copy for a purpose other than research or private study may require the authorization of the copyright owner of the work in question.

• Marginal note:Patrons of other libraries, etc.

  (5) Subject to subsection (5.02), a library, archive or museum, or a person acting under the authority of one, may do, on behalf of a patron of another library, archive or museum, anything under subsection (1) or (2) that it is authorized by this section to do on behalf of one of its own patrons.

• Marginal note:Deeming

  (5.01) For the purpose of subsection (5), the making of a copy of a work other than by reprographic reproduction is deemed to be a making of a copy of the work that may be done under subsection (2).

• Marginal note:Limitation regarding copies in digital form

  (5.02) A library, archive or museum, or a person acting under the authority of one, may, under subsection (5), provide a copy in digital form to a person who has requested it through another library, archive or museum if the providing library, archive or museum or person takes measures to prevent the person who has requested it from

  • (a) making any reproduction of the digital copy, including any paper copies, other than printing one copy of it;

  • (b) communicating the digital copy to any other person; and

  • (c) using the digital copy for more than five business days from the day on which the person first uses it.

• Marginal note:Destruction of intermediate copies

  (5.1) Where an intermediate copy is made in order to copy a work referred to in subsection (5), once the copy is given to the patron, the intermediate copy must be destroyed.

• Marginal note:Regulations

  (6) The Governor in Council may, for the purposes of this section, make regulations

  • (a) defining “newspaper” and “periodical”;

  • (b) defining scholarly, scientific and technical periodicals;

  • (c) prescribing the information to be recorded about any action taken under subsection (1) or (5) and the manner and form in which the information is to be kept; and

  • (d) prescribing the manner and form in which the conditions set out in subsection (4) are to be met.

Marginal note:Copying works deposited in archive

• 30.21 (1) Subject to subsections (3) and (3.1), it is not an infringement of copyright for an archive to make, for any person requesting to use the copy for research or private study, a copy of an unpublished work that is deposited in the archive and provide the person with it.

• Marginal note:Notice

  (2) When a person deposits a work in an archive, the archive must give the person notice that it may copy the work in accordance with this section.

• Marginal note:Conditions for copying of works

  (3) The archive may copy the work only on the condition that

  • (a) the person who deposited the work, if a copyright owner, did not, at the time the work was deposited, prohibit its copying; and

  • (b) copying has not been prohibited by any other owner of copyright in the work.

• Marginal note:Condition for providing copy

  (3.1) The archive may provide the person for whom a copy is made under subsection (1) with the copy only on the condition that

  • (a) the person is provided with a single copy of the work; and

  • (b) the archive informs the person that the copy is to be used solely for research or private study and that any use of the copy for a purpose other than research or private study may require the authorization of the copyright owner of the work in question.

• Marginal note:Regulations

  (4) The Governor in Council may prescribe by regulation the manner and form in which the conditions set out in subsections (3) and (3.1) may be met.

• (5) to (7) [Repealed, 2004, c. 11, s. 21]

Machines Installed in Educational Institutions, Libraries, Archives and Museums

Marginal note:No infringement by educational institution, etc.

• 30.3 (1) An educational institution or a library, archive or museum does not infringe copyright where

  • (a) a copy of a work is made using a machine for the making, by reprographic reproduction, of copies of works in printed form;

  • (b) the machine is installed by or with the approval of the educational institution, library, archive or museum on its premises for use by students, instructors or staff at the educational institution or by persons using the library, archive or museum; and

  • (c) there is affixed in the prescribed manner and location a notice warning of infringement of copyright.

• Marginal note:Application

  (2) Subsection (1) only applies if, in respect of a reprographic reproduction,

  • (a) the educational institution, library, archive or museum has entered into an agreement with a collective society that is authorized by copyright owners to grant licences on their behalf;

  • (b) the Board has, in accordance with subsection 71(2), fixed the royalty rates and related terms and conditions;

  • (c) a tariff has been approved in accordance with section 70; or

  • (d) a collective society has filed a proposed tariff in accordance with section 68.

• Marginal note:Order

  (3) Where a collective society offers to negotiate or has begun to negotiate an agreement referred to in paragraph (2)(a), the Board may, at the request of either party, order that the educational institution, library, archive or museum be treated as an institution to which subsection (1) applies, during the period specified in the order.

• Marginal note:Agreement with copyright owner

  (4) Where an educational institution, library, archive or museum has entered into an agreement with a copyright owner other than a collective society respecting reprographic reproduction, subsection (1) applies only in respect of the works of the copyright owner that are covered by the agreement.

• Marginal note:Regulations

  (5) The Governor in Council may, for the purposes of paragraph 1(c), prescribe by regulation the manner of affixing and location of notices and the dimensions, form and contents of notices.

Libraries, Archives and Museums in Educational Institutions

Marginal note:Application to libraries, etc. within educational institutions

30.4 For greater certainty, the exceptions to infringement of copyright provided for under sections 29.4 to 30.3 and 45 also apply in respect of a library, archive or museum that forms part of an educational institution.

Library and Archives of Canada

Marginal note:Permitted acts

30.5 It is not an infringement of copyright for the Librarian and Archivist of Canada under the Library and Archives of Canada Act, to

• (a) make a copy of a work or other subject-matter in taking a representative sample for the purpose of preservation under subsection 8(2) of that Act;

• (b) effect the fixation of a copy of a publication, as defined in section 2 of that Act, that is provided by telecommunication in accordance with subsection 10(1) of that Act;

• (c) make a copy of a recording, as defined in subsection 11(2) of that Act, for the purposes of section 11 of that Act; or

• (d) at the time that a broadcasting undertaking, as defined in subsection 2(1) of the Broadcasting Act, communicates a work or other subject-matter to the public by telecommunication, make a copy of the work or other subject-matter that is included in that communication.

Computer Programs

Marginal note:Permitted acts

30.6 It is not an infringement of copyright in a computer program for a person who owns a copy of the computer program that is authorized by the owner of the copyright, or has a licence to use a copy of the computer program, to

• (a) reproduce the copy by adapting, modifying or converting it, or translating it into another computer language, if the person proves that the reproduced copy

  • (i) is essential for the compatibility of the computer program with a particular computer,

  • (ii) is solely for the person’s own use, and

  • (iii) was destroyed immediately after the person ceased to be the owner of the copy of the computer program or to have a licence to use it; or

• (b) reproduce for backup purposes the copy or a reproduced copy referred to in paragraph (a) if the person proves that the reproduction for backup purposes was destroyed immediately after the person ceased to be the owner of the copy of the computer program or to have a licence to use it.