Copyright guide
Copyright basics - Licences
Licences are contracts that regulate the reproduction and use of works in addition to the requirements of the Copyright Act. Some licences impose further restrictions on the use and reproduction of works and some waive certain rights that are part of the Copyright Act. In the context of a university, faculty and students should know about the following types of licences:
- The Copibec licence with the majority of Quebec universities regulates the creation and distribution of coursepacks, which is the production of multiple copies of works for teaching. The licence specifies limitations on what can be reproduced (such as number of pages, percentage of total work, type of work) and the payment of royalty fees. For more information on the licence, see the Concordia Policy on Copyright Compliance, section 6. For information on the creation of coursepacks, see the Concordia Print Services website.
- Most of the databases available through the library have licences that govern use and reproduction of their contents. For instance, some database licences allow sending full-text journal articles to oneself by e-mail, others do not. Most of the licenses limit the usage of the database to non-commercial purposes. If you are uncertain about using one of the Libraries' databases, please consult a librarian.
