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Open Access/Public Domain Resources

• Open access is defined as "the unrestricted right or opportunity to use or benefit from something, in particular academic writing or research".
• Public domain is defined as "the state of belonging or being available to the public as a whole, and therefore not subject to copyright".

Frequently Asked Questions

• How do I get copyright permission to copy and distribute chapters of a book?
  Determine who owns the copyright. Is it a named author or a publisher? Contact the copyright owner to ask for permission. Be specific in your request. Detail what part of their work you are intending to use, what you want to use it for, and how many people you want to distribute it to.
   
• Is it necessary to obtain copyright permission for Government of Canada publications? 
  No permission is required if used for non-commercial purposes.
   
• How much of a text book can I copy? 
  How much of a work can be copied is not defined by Canadian Copyright Law (See Lesley Ellen Harris Canadian Copyright Law, 4th ed. 2014, pages 139. 251). Consider the purpose of copying. Generally copying one chapter in a textbook is the guideline we use, but this depends on the intended purpose of the copying is it for private study or classroom use.  Anything more than one chapter for private study or personal research would require obtaining permission from the copyright owner.
   
• Can you copy a book chapter and distribute copies to members of a journal club?             
  Making multiple copies and distributing them are not exceptions allowed under the Copyright Act. To do this, you would need to obtain permission from the copyright owner. You as an individual can copy an entire article/chapter - that would be considered “fair dealing” - but you cannot then distribute copies to others.

Open Access/Public Domain/Creative Commons Resources

• Open access is defined as "the unrestricted right or opportunity to use or benefit from something, in particular academic writing or research".
• Public domain is defined as "the state of belonging or being available to the public as a whole, and therefore not subject to copyright".
• Creative Commons is defined as "licenses give creators and institutions a standardized way to grant the public permission to use their creative work under copyright law".

Audio​​

Special Considerations

Frequently Asked Questions

• Can I include photographs taken by Horizon staff in a Horizon policy or learning module?
  There is no problem using a photo taken by Horizon staff. Technically, if the photo was taken “on the job”, the copyright of the image belongs to Horizon, so this would avoid any copyright issues.

• Is it okay to copy a VHS recording to a DVD or other device so that I can still watch it?
  A video can be moved to a new format if the video is not commercially available for purchase. If you can buy the DVD, you cannot copy the VHS to DVD.

• Can I use videos from YouTube and/or TED talks in a learning module or share it on Skyline?
  TED talks - your usage would fall under the “non-commercial cases” and they have recommendations when using as indicated in the TED link below:

• YouTube - do you plan to use content created by anyone else?
  Seek the owner’s permission is required unless there is a statement indicating it can be used without permission.

• Here’s a link to additional information from the YouTube website: 

Open Access/Public Domain Resources

• Open access is defined as "the unrestricted right or opportunity to use or benefit from something, in particular academic writing or research".
• Public domain is defined as "the state of belonging or being available to the public as a whole, and therefore not subject to copyright"

Assessment/Special Tests

Special Considerations

Be sure to check the dates of the assessment tests and/or datasets used - there may be more current options available

How to Reference

Frequently Asked Questions

• Can charts like the Lund and Browder burn diagram and the Bristol stool chart be used in training?
  Permission from the copyright owner is required. Check who it is. The original copyright owner may have died but ownership may have been passed on to an organization or person e.g. Bristol stool chart copyright now owned by Rome Institute.