Introduction
If you are providing course-related materials either from NUS collection or from other sources of copyrighted readings for dissemination to your students, you are making multiple copies. In this situation, you are, by law, required to abide by the legal requirements under the Copyright Act 2021 which Canvas Course Readings would facilitate.
Disclaimer: The content in the following FAQs is meant for general informational purposes only. It is not intended to be a substitute for legal counsel and does not constitute legal advice.
FAQs on this page:
Q. How much of a book / journal am I allowed to copy in Canvas Course Readings?
It depends on the format of the material you are uploading:
Only the owner of the copyright in the book may give permission.
The author is not necessarily the owner of copyright in a published book because:-
Please obtain permission from the correct party when seeking to upload more than 10% or one chapter of a published work. One possible way to identify the copyright owner is to look for the © print e.g. “© Jane Doe 2019”
Note: This FAQ applies primarily to print books. For e-books, you can just place a hyperlink, as with all other NUS Libraries e-Resources. Quantity made available is subject to the e-book database restrictions.
You are by law required to abide by the legal requirements under the Copyright Act 2021.
When you make available your course readings on Canvas Course Readings, the library will assist you in:-
You may only upload digital copies of readings or videos yourself if you are the copyright owner of the materials, or have explicit permission from the copyright holder to copy.
Resources that can be placed in Canvas Course Readings:-
Resources that will not be placed in Canvas Course Readings:-
materials where the publisher explicitly prohibits linking. For example:-
If the format of material you are hoping to upload does not fall under the above categories (e.g. map, legal case, news article), please contact clbfrm05@nus.edu.sg.
Please check with the library for any updates to this list.
Offline Screening
Under the Copyright Act 2021, students and staff of NUS are allowed to screen the video from NUS Libraries media collection in class as part of a lecture or assignment as long as:-
Online Screening from Canvas
Note: The above applies to offline screening of videos. For videos to be streamed from Canvas, permission from the copyright owner is required (e.g. a streaming license should be obtained) or, if available, a hyperlink to a version free from copyright restrictions will be provided. For more information, please contact the NUS Libraries Canvas Course Readings Team at clbfrm05@nus.edu.sg
Zoom
Lecturers can screen-share the films during class using Zoom under the following conditions:
Documents (book chapters, articles, etc.) obtained through DDS cannot be placed in Canvas Course Readings by law as they are obtained for the specific purpose of personal research and study and not for making multiple copies of readings for students and staff.
Staff who request DDS materials are required to make a declaration that they will "only use the document(s) for non-commercial/research purposes or private study and will not supply a copy of the document(s) to any other person" (Copyright Act 2021)
No. Sequential or serial copying and communication of chapters from a single book for the same course is not permitted.
If you require more than one chapter of a book for your course, you have two options:
In compliance with copyright requirements, the readings will be kept for one semester.
If the same readings are required for the next semester, a new form needs to be submitted for each particular reading.
Section 198 of the Copyright Act 2021 has a special exception allowing NUS to communicate multiple copies of reasonable portions of articles or book chapters to students.
There are a number of conditions that NUS must meet. One of the conditions is NUS must pay equitable remuneration to the rights owner if the rights owner makes a written request within the prescribed time after the copy or communication is made.
For Canvas users: The Copyright Declaration is built into the Canvas Course Readings request form when a request is submitted, so there is no need to make a separate declaration.
Yes. The 10% or 1 chapter restriction applies per course.
Note: This FAQ is under review.