Copyright and Intellectual Property Policy

POLICY PURPOSE

To outline the Hamilton Public Library’s role and position related to applicable Copyright and Intellection Property legislation.

KEY POINTS SUMMARY

  • The Hamilton Public Library (HPL) is not responsible for infringing copies made by users of the Hamilton Public Library’s copying equipment and Makerspaces. It’s the user’s obligation and responsibility to determine and satisfy copyright or other use restrictions.
  • HPL respects the copyright and moral rights of authors and copyright holders and seeks to educate library members about these rights with regard to the Library’s physical and digital collections.
  • HPL staff and members may make copies for specific purposes under the fair dealing provision of the Copyright Act.

DEFINITIONS

  • Copyright is a legal means of protecting an author/creator’s work.
  • Intellectual Property refers to the ownership of intangible and non-physical goods.
  • Fair Dealing is a user’s right in copyright law permitting use of a copyright protected work without permission or payment of copyright royalties for the purpose of research, private study, education, satire, parody, criticism, review or news reporting, provided that what you do with the work is ‘fair’.

POLICY DETAILS

HPL seeks to advocate for, inform and support the intellectual property rights of the creator as outlined within Canadian legislation while balancing the social benefit and educational value of fair use.

The majority of the material in the Library’s collections is subject to copyright. It is not the role of Library staff to interpret the Copyright Act for members. Responsibility regarding copyright arising from the use and/or copying is the responsibility of the member making the copy, whether the member uses their own or library equipment.

The intellectual property laws of Canada govern the making of reproductions and/or use of some materials. Certain copying may be an infringement of copyright law. The Hamilton Public Library is not responsible for infringing copies made by users of the Hamilton Public Library’s copying equipment and Makerspaces. It’s the user’s obligation and responsibility to determine and satisfy copyright or other use restrictions (such as privacy rights, CSA standards, technical protection measures, licensing and trademark, etc.) when using HPL’s collections, equipment and software.

Fair dealing is a long-standing feature of Canadian copyright law that permits certain uses of copyright material in ways that do not unduly harm the interests of copyright owners, but which could have significant social benefits. In Canada, fair dealing does not infringe copyright and is limited to the purpose of research, private study, education, parody or satire:

  • HPL staff and members may make copies for specific purposes under the fair dealing provision of the Copyright Act including Controlled Digital Lending. Any concerns of the legitimacy of staff copying for these purposes will be referred to the Library’s Chief Librarian or delegate.
  • HPL’s copying services, whether the copy is made by Library staff or a member, are provided without a motive of financial gain. The fee charged is intended to cover a portion of the costs of the Library.

HPL will make available copies of the Copyright Act and post signage to make members aware of the Copyright Act.
Hamilton Public Library retains copyright for content created by the Hamilton Public Library including the digitization of Local History & Archives collections. When content is created by the Hamilton Public Library (and HPL is the copyright holder), it is covered under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non-commercial 2.5 Canada License. This material can be used for personal or research use without prior permission. HPL requests attribution in the personal and scholarly use of the material. A credit line, “Courtesy of Local History & Archives, Hamilton Public Library” should be provided if material reproduced from the Library’s collections is published for commercial or non-commercial purposes in print, online, or in other media. Commercial use including but not limited to: reproductions, redistribution, publication, or transmission whether by electronic means or otherwise without prior written permission from the Hamilton Public Library is prohibited.

Local History & Archives is a contributing partner to The Commons on Flickr, which contains images from photograph collections held in cultural heritage institutions around the world. All images from Local History & Archives featured on The Commons have "no known copyright restrictions," either as they are in the public domain or the copyright is owned by the Hamilton Public Library.

For more information, please visit the Canadian Intellectual Property Office’s website: http://www.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/cipointernet-internetopic.nsf/eng/home

 

Publish Date

September 2021