Copyright awareness for teachers

Overview

Canadian copyright law continues to evolve in response to existing and emerging technologies, international agreements, and the need for reasonable balance between the rights of users and the rights of copyright-protected works.

Resources on this page take into account Canada's copyright law and the 2012 Supreme Court of Canada decision on fair dealing, which lets teachers use short excerpts from copyright-protected works for educational purposes.

Teachers are responsible for knowing their rights and responsibilities when relying on fair dealing in the classroom.

We encourage Alberta schools to download these promotional graphics (ZIP, 29 MB) and use them to help raise awareness of fair dealing.

A new edition of an important copyright resource was released in late 2022 and it has everything teachers need to know about copyright.

Copyright Matters! provides practical information for Canadian teachers on their rights and responsibilities regarding the use of copyright-protected materials in educational institutions. The new edition includes new information on copyright and online learning.

Resources

• Copyright Matters! Fifth Edition (PDF, 1.3 MB) (English version)
• Copyright Matters! Fifth Edition (online version)
• Le droit d’auteur… ca compte! (PDF, 1.7 MB) (version française)
• Le droit d’auteur… ça compte! (site Internet)
• Fair Dealing Guidelines (PDF, 72 KB)
• Lignes directrices sur l’utilisation equitable (PDF, 229 KB)
• Council of Ministers of Education, Canada (CMEC) Copyright Decision Tool for Educators
• Consumables Poster (PDF, 865 KB)
• Affiche sur le matériel consommable (PDF, 646 KB)

You can request physical copies of these resources by emailing [email protected].