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Copyright Guide

This guide is intended to give best practices for the acceptable use of copyright protected materials. It does not provide legal advice.

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Saint Mary’s University understands both the desire to protect scholarly research and writing, and the need to advance knowledge. The university believes in fairly compensating content creators for their contributions to academic advancement while maximizing the permissions granted to us through our paid licensing agreements and the educational exceptions in the Copyright Act.

The Copyright Act has been amended and modernized in recent years. These amendments provide educational institutions with rights to access, make and distribute content to their students. Reproducing a work can include photocopying, scanning, downloading, or uploading the material. Library licensing agreements for electronic content also outline how certain materials can be shared. 

Faculty, Staff and Students must comply with the Copyright Act and these licensing agreements. Saint Mary's University has adopted Fair Dealing guidelines to support SMU's goal of total copyright compliance. This guide was created to help ensure full copyright compliance by offering information on copyright and best practices. It does not provide legal advice.

We invite you to contact us to discuss your questions, concerns, feedback, or suggestions relating to copyright or this guide. We can be reached at:

Picture of Sarah West, Copyright Assistant
Sarah West
Copyright Assistant
Tel: 902-491-6321
Copyright@smu.ca
Picture of Dan Phillips, Data & Copyright Librarian
Dan Phillips
Data Services & Copyright Librarian
Tel: 902-420-5148
Dan.Phillips@smu.ca
Picture of Suzanne van den Hoogen, University Librarian and Copyright Officer
Suzanne van den Hoogen
University Librarian / Copyright Officer
Tel: 902-420-5532
Suzanne.vandenHoogen@smu.ca

Course Readings Service

Our Course Readings Service helps instructors to connect students with course readings and other course content in a cost-effective, environmentally friendly, copyright-compliant, and easily accessible manner. Simply send your syllabus or course readings list to copyright@smu.ca. We will review it and provide you with options from our licensed content, Open Access resources, or copies that fall under Fair Dealing. If copyright permission is required, we will help you get it.

Book a Copyright Information Session

Are you interested in learning more about copyright? We're happy to present on a variety of copyright-related topics to the SMU community. We can host classroom sessions, speak at department or staff meetings, or participate in student societies or association events. Feel free to reach out to the Copyright Office at copyright@smu.ca to discuss your options and schedule a session. We're here to help!

Got a Copyright Question – Ask Us!

We are here to help! If you are unsure about the permissions of a given work the best thing to do is ASK and we will do our best to give you all the relevant information in a timely fashion.

Send the Copyright Office an email at copyright@smu.ca with your question. A few things to include in your email are:

  • The title, and any publication information you have of the work in question
  • Your question
  • The intended use of the copy
  • Information about your course