Comments and content of the law

The law defines fair dealing as copying works for the purposes of private study, research, criticism, review or newspaper summary. Fair dealing with a work does not require the permission of the copyright owner or the payment of royalties.

Although well-recognized in Canada and abroad, fair dealing has never been clearly defined by either Canadian legislation or the courts. Nonetheless some guidelines can be offered. For instance, a strong argument can be made that a non-commercial use for educational purposes is fair dealing, as well as the use of a part of a complete work (usually less than 10%, though no hard-and-fast rules are available). The University of Manitoba website presents an excellent text on fair dealing.

We reproduce here a section of the Canadian Copyright Act (Chapter C-42) about fair dealing. To read the complete text of this law, please consult the General Secretariat, Organization of American States website.

National Legislation - Canada
Chapter C-42 - Copyright Act

Part III: Infringement of copyright and moral rights and exceptions to infringement

Article 29. Fair dealing for the purpose of research or private study does not infringe copyright.

Article 29.1 Fair dealing for the purpose of criticism or review does not infringe copyright if the following are mentioned :

a) the source; and

b) if given in the source :

(i) the name of the author, in the case of a work;

(ii) performer, in the case of a performer's performance;

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

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