Library

Copyright and undergraduate research 

The following FAQs will assist students in understanding copyright as it relates to undergraduate research such as undergraduate theses, research projects, and submissions to MRU library’s hosting services such as the open access repository.

 

Do I own the copyright in my undergraduate research project?

Students at Mount Royal University own the intellectual property they create. Research is no exception. If you created the work on your own, then it is likely you are the sole copyright owner. If the work was jointly created, you may share copyright ownership with the other author(s). If the research is published in a commercial journal, there may be a transfer of copyright. It is important to read these transfer agreements carefully. For more information, visit the library’s Undergraduate Research Guide.

 

Do I need copyright permission to put an image (e.g. photo, maps, diagram, figure, etc.) in my undergraduate research?

Assignments are considered a private work (unless published) and images can be used without permission as long as they are properly cited and fall under fair dealing or a similar provision. However, before your work is published, if the submission includes reproductions of copyright protected images the author of the submission must in some cases obtain written authorization from the copyright holder in order to reproduce this material for inclusion in the undergraduate research. If fair dealing or a similar provision applies, the material is usable under a Creative Commons or similar license, or the material is not protected by copyright (e.g., the work is in the public domain, the work is factual/data), permission may not be necessary.

 

What is fair dealing and can I use it for my undergraduate research?

Fair dealing is one of the user rights in the Copyright Act that allows any person to make a copy of a copyrighted work. In order for fair dealing to apply to your use of others’ works in your submission,

1. the copying must be for one or more of the following purposes: research, private study, education, satire, parody, criticism, review, or news reporting, and
2. the copying must be fair.

When copying copyrighted works for use in an institutional repository submission, such copying is primarily for the purposes of research, criticism, and/or review. Fair dealing is not meant for illustrative/decorative purposes. Its purpose is to engage with and disseminate the third-party content under the purposes set forth in the Copyright Act.

To determine whether a particular instance of copying may be considered “fair” for the purposes of fair dealing, the Supreme Court of Canada has stated that all relevant factors need to be considered, including the following, which comprise what is sometimes referred-to as the “six-factor” fair dealing test:

1. the purpose of the proposed copying, including whether it is for research, private study, education, satire, parody, criticism, review or news reporting;
2. the character of the proposed copying, including whether it involves single or multiple copies, and whether the copy is destroyed after it is used for its specific intended purpose;
3. the amount of the dealing from the individual user’s perspective, including the proportion of the work that is copied and the importance of that excerpt in relation to the whole work; this is often referred to as a “short excerpt” and must contain no more of the work than is required in order to achieve the fair dealing purpose;
4. alternatives to copying the work, including whether there is a non-copyrighted equivalent available;
5. the nature of the work, including whether it is published or unpublished; and
6. the effect of the copying on the work, including whether the copy will compete with the commercial market of the original work.

It is not necessary that your use satisfies every one of these factors in order to be fair, and no one factor is determinative by itself. In assessing whether your use is fair, a court would look at the factors as a whole to determine if, on balance, your use is fair.

For more information on fair dealing in general, including the University’s approach to determining whether something is a “short excerpt”, please see MRU’s Fair Dealing Guidelines.

In summary:

• If your use of others’ work in your submission is “fair”, then you do not need to ask for permission to use it.
• If your use of the work would not be “fair” then you do need to seek permission to use it.

 

How do I apply the “six-factor” fair dealing test to my undergraduate research?

For details, you can watch Opening Up Copyright’s Applying Fair Dealing module (10 mins.).

 

Who is responsible for determining whether or not my research qualifies as fair dealing?

As a student, you are responsible for the content of your undergraduate research and, thus, for determining whether your proposed use of copyrighted works qualifies as fair dealing or whether you need to seek permission. The Copyright Advisor (mrucopyright@mtroyal.ca) can assist you through one on one consultations or you can attend a copyright workshop.

 

Can the Copyright Advisor give me a definitive answer about whether my use of something is fair dealing or not?

While the Copyright Advisor (mrucopyright@mtroyal.ca) can assist you with your fair dealing analysis, they cannot provide a "definitive" answer. The limits of what can be included under the fair dealing exception is a matter of interpretation and involves a number of factors. If there is a dispute with the copyright-holder regarding such an interpretation of fair dealing, the ultimate decision-maker would be the courts. However, in practice, for non-commercial uses (such as short excerpts included in your submission) with minimal economic impact on the copyright holder, such disputes are often resolved between the parties themselves.

 

How does copyright apply to data?

Data and factual information (e.g., rainfall or temperature measurements, mortality rates, population numbers, currency values, chemical structures, historical facts and dates, the number of Twitter followers someone has) are not protected by copyright. Additionally, simple and typical visualizations such as line graphs and tables (see example below) are often not creative enough to be eligible for copyright protection. These types of material may be able to be copied and used without permission.

Accumulated Precipitation over One Week for Calgary

However, some types of more creative research products that might be used in a similar way to data (e.g., photographs, audiovisual recordings, detailed diagrams and charts, collections of text mined from websites or publications) are most likely protected by copyright.

In your research, if you are:

• Using someone else's data or your data incorporates work created by others: Consider its copyright status, and ensure that you have the right or permission to copy and share it. Remember that fair dealing and other rights may apply.
• Generating or compiling data: Copyright in these materials may belong to you, another member of your research team, or an external third party.
• Depositing material in a research data repository: You must be certain that you have the right to upload the material. If your material incorporates works created by others, you should have the permission of those other creators to upload it to a data repository, unless your use of the work falls under fair dealing or a similar provision.

Image credit: Graph generated at https://acis.alberta.ca/weather-data-viewer.jsp

 

When do I seek permission?

If your use of a copyrighted work is substantial, does not qualify for fair dealing or a similar provision, does not fall under an open license (e.g. Creative Commons) then seeking permission is the next step.

 

How do I determine who the copyright holder is and how do I go about getting permission from them?

Seeking permission is a straightforward process, but obtaining responses from copyright owners can take a long time. You are strongly encouraged to send out your permission requests as early as possible.

Identify the Copyright Owner

The first step in the process is to identify the copyright owner. Usually you will be able to identify the owner somewhere on the work by looking for the copyright symbol ©, which should have the copyright owner’s name next to it. You’ll often find this at the beginning of a book, at the side of a photograph or at the bottom of a web page.

Permission from Individuals

If the copyright owner is an individual, then the next step is to obtain the permission in writing by emailing that individual, requesting permission and explaining how and why you want to use the work. You should keep a record of who gave the permission, what was permitted, the date, and the contact information of the copyright holder.

Permission from Journals and Commercial Publishers

If the copyright owner is an academic journal or commercial publisher, they may have a set of pre-approved permission requests for student theses and other works, such as SAGE and Elsevier.

Alternatively, the fastest course of action is often to search for the work in question at the Copyright Clearance Center (CCC). The CCC handles permissions for a large number of publishers, and permission to include images in theses and other student work can often be obtained through the CCC website swiftly and at no cost.

If you cannot obtain permission through the CCC, you can check the journal’s or publisher’s website. When you arrive at the website, look for a link that says “Rights and Permissions” (or something similar), then read through the available information to determine the correct method for requesting permission.

Proof of Permission

You should keep copies of all letters, forms, and emails granting you permission to use copyrighted material. Make sure you keep a physical and electronic copy if permission is given on a webpage; do not just save a link to the webpage, These copies are for your own records.

For assistance with seeking permission from a copyright holder, or if you have any questions about obtaining a copyright permission for a particular copyrighted work, please contact the Copyright Advisor (mrucopyright@mtroyal.ca).

 

What about copying text into my undergraduate research? Do I need permission for including quotes?

With regard to copying text into your work, permission should be acquired for use of long quotations or excerpts (unless fair dealing or a similar provision applies). A short quote that you would include in the body of your text would not require copyright permission and a block quotation would not necessarily require permission.

There is no exact word count that is the maximum amount of text that could be used before permission is required. If you are unsure about what constitutes a long quotation (which may require permission if fair dealing or a similar provision doesn’t apply), you can consult with your subject librarian. The MRU citation style guidelines (e.g., APA, MLA, etc.) may include helpful information on this as well.

 

How can I share my undergraduate research through the library?

The Mount Royal University Library has initiatives such as the Open Access Repository and Journal Hosting Service that can publish your research and make it freely accessible to anyone, anywhere, anytime by making it open access.

Attribution

The information on this page has been adapted from the following sources:

• University of Saskatchewan’s “Copyright for Students - Thesis Frequently Asked Questions”, licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.5 Canada Licence.
• University of Alberta’s “Graduate Thesis Copyright FAQ”, used with permission.
• University of British Columbia’s “Theses and Dissertations”, licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 License.
• Simon Fraser University’s “Data and Copyright”, licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 License.

Contacting the Copyright Office

The Copyright Advisor can assist you in copyright matters as it pertains to your education and research at MRU. If you need help or have specific questions, contact the Copyright Advisor at MRUcopyright@mtroyal.ca.