Review and Permissions
[Updated: XX May 2024]
Copyright Review and Permissions Service
The Copyright Office provides a copyright review and permissions service for course-related copying. This service applies to the use and dissemination of course materials in print and digital format for teaching and learning, which includes all forms of copyright-protected works such as books, movies, recorded music, art, photographs, dramatic works, etc.
If you haven’t already done so, please review the three steps outlined on the Copyright Review of Course Materials page to determine when you might need to use this service. Instructions on requesting a copyright review are found on the Course Materials page.
The Copyright Office provides individual and group consultations for advice on general copying rights and freedoms, exceptions permitted for educational copying, as well as compliance with the U of A Library's licences for digital holdings, Creative Commons licences, U of A Fair Dealing Guidelines, and other sources authorizing the use. Where no pre-authorization exists, we will contact the rights holders to request permission. See below for information on copyright clearance and payment of clearance fees.
As several factors influence the time necessary for clearing copyright, in particular publisher response times, we recommend you submit your request well in advance of the course start date – typically 6-8 weeks in advance is sufficient.
Payment of Permission Fees
From time to time, it may be necessary to contact a copyright owner or their agent for permission to reproduce and distribute their work. This may be the case when a book is out of print, no licence or exception authorizes copying, or the amount of copying from a single source goes beyond the Fair Dealing Guidelines. In those instances, the Copyright Office will contact the rights holder on your behalf to request copyright clearance. If the rights holder requests payment for use of the work, we will manage the transaction.
These costs are recovered via the sale of print coursepacks in the U of A Bookstore and/or via indent for digital copies, which are paid to the Copyright Office by the academic unit.
Printing and Distribution of Coursepacks
Obtaining a coursepack involves two separate steps: SUBprint handles printing and production, while the Copyright Office performs the copyright review.
- Information about the printing, distribution, and sale of coursepacks can be found on the SUBprint website.
- Coursepacks that contain copyright-protected material must be reviewed for copyright compliance prior to production.
- Place your coursepack print order with SUBprint, and submit your Copyright Review Request Form at the same time. See the Course Materials page for additional information about these two steps.
- Please do not send your Copyright Review Request Form to the designated print service. As mentioned above, send your Copyright Review Request Form to the Copyright Office and also submit your order for printing to SUBprint. The print service will then create a copy of your materials to send to the Copyright Office for review.
Resources
Forms & Templates
Course Materials