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Copyright for Faculty & Staff

Copyright information for faculty & staff

Video & Copyright

In general, you may share and display videos for educational purposes, on the premises of Ontario Tech or in the Canvas LMS, for an audience consisting primarily of students enrolled in a course, if the following conditions are met:

  • The material is a legally obtained copy and/or has been legally posted online by the copyright holder
  • Any recording of the class is paused while the video is displayed
  • There are no clearly visible restrictions on sharing the audiovisual material (eg. License Agreement or Terms of Use)
  • You do not circumvent any digital rights protection measures or digital locks

Video sharing sites: YouTube, Vimeo

By nature of the platform, videos posted publicly on YouTube and Vimeo, are intended to be shared.

Provided that the content has been legally uploaded by the copyright holder,

You may:

  • Post a link to the video in your course materials
  • Embed via a video player in Canvas
  • Present a video in a classroom or in a synchronous virtual class setting

Subscription streaming services: Netflix, Disney+, Apple TV

In general, these subscription services are licensed for personal, noncommercial use only, and sharing for educational purposes is not permitted.

You may:

  • Direct students to create an account and view material from subscription services individually
  • Refer to the streaming terms of service or licence terms page
    • See the Helpful Links section below
  • Check the streaming service's YouTube account
    • Netflix shares some documentaries and films in full on YouTube

You may not:

  • Screen material from subscription platforms from your personal account in the classroom
  • Duplicate or record the video
  • Edit or reuse the video in a new creation

Before using make sure of the following:

  • The video is legally uploaded to the video sharing platform by the original creator or copyright holder
  • That any recording of the class is paused while video is being played
  • That the title, author, source and licence (if applicable) of the video is included in the teaching materials
  • There is no clearly visible restriction that prohibits sharing or reuse
  • You do not circumvent any digital rights protection measures (digital locks)

Physical video recordings

You may:

  • Play a video that has been legally acquired (purchased, rented, licensed)
  • Play a video for educational purposes in a classroom setting
  • Play a video if no digital locks (DRM) are broken or violated

Without the permission of the copyright holder, you may NOT:

  • Play a video for entertainment purposes
  • Digitize or record or make a copy of the video

Before using make sure of the following:

  • That any recording of the class is paused while video is being played
  • That the title, author, source and licence (if applicable) of the video is included in the teaching materials

Search for work in the Library's collection. Refer to the library’s licence summary for information to learn how you can show the video in your classroom. 

screenshot of license summary from library catalogue. permitted uses highlighted.

Digital Locks

Digital Locks are formally referred to as Technological Protection Measures (TPMs) in the Copyright Act. Digital Locks are sometimes used by copyright owners to prevent works from being accessed or copied without permission. This can be done through measures like encryption, content scrambling, passwords, or limited install activations. The Copyright Act prohibits circumvention of these access controls. See Section 41 of the Copyright Act for more information.

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