Copyright Guidelines for Materials in Canvas Courses

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nlatimer
Community Champion

Hello Everyone,

I have done some looking around and this has come up before; I have also found some university library websites that address it. However, I still find a lack of clear guidelines about what types/quantities of copyrighted materials can be allowed to exist in a Canvas course. I think we all realize that fair use can be difficult to interpret, but I think things also get compounded by the fact that information is being put online, but behind a "closed course." 

For example, I currently have a K-12 teacher who wants to upload some of her personal audiobooks on CD to her iTunes, move to her Google Drive and then post links to them in Canvas. Now if she were to post the audiobooks to the Internet in general, that would clearly be a problem. But the fact that they will only be accessible to students in her Canvas course muddies the picture. I personally still believe that this is not a proper thing to do; for one reason, she intends to make the entire recordings available.

I am both a Canvas administrator and a librarian and still find this all confusing. I would love to hear your take on this as well as see any resources that you have developed to deal with these situations.

Thank you!

Nancy

1 Solution
nlatimer
Community Champion

Hi  @nr2522 ,

Yes, I agree, I don't want to be the copyright police. I am just trying to understand how the concept of copyright/fair use is applied when the materials are in a Canvas course that requires a login, vs being generally available online. I know many universities have some information on their library websites about this, and I am familiar with Columbia's checklist. I only saw one site that flat out said that fair use still applies in this scenario. I have teachers who believe that because the materials require a login to the course, fair use is not applicable. 

So that is the question at hand. Do fair use guidelines still hold for a closed Canvas course?

Thanks,

Nancy

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