Handouts include any material distributed directly to students as either a paper or digital (email) copy. Handouts are typically comprised of copies of journal articles, pages from a book, course notes, or powerpoint slides. Some handouts may include copyrighted material while others may be the faculty member’s original content. When using copyrighted material, the amount copied in a handout must be within the UVic copying guidelines and Canadian Copyright law.
Copyright protection in Canada lasts for 50 years after the death of the author(s) of the work. Therefore, a book that is out of print may still be protected by copyright. If you would like to make a
handout from an out of print book, you may do so provided that it a “short excerpt” as explained in the copying guidelines.
Yes, if you have permission from the copyright holder to do so, or if it is only a "short excerpt" of the work and you're in compliance with the copying guidelines.
It depends on the cumulative amount of the copying.
By the end of your course, the total amount copies for your course must not have exceeded the copying guidelines.
For example, if you copy one page from a 100 page book on the first day of class, and two pages from the same book on the last day of class, you are within the 10% permitted under the Fair Dealing Guidelines.
However, if you copy five pages from a 100 page book and later copy six pages from another chapter in the same book, then this exceeds the 10% permitted under the Guidelines.
Should you have any questions please contact the Copyright Office.
The Copyright Office makes every effort to provide accurate information but does not offer it as counsel or legal advice.
