In Canada and in many other countries, fair dealing -- or similar provisions, such as fair use in the United States -- are a part of copyright that recognize that certain uses of copyright-protected works are beneficial for society and therefore can be done without the permission of -- or payment to -- the copyright holder.
Fair dealing is for everyone. You probably make use of fair dealing every day without even realizing it, whether emailing a news article to a friend, using a clip from a song, using a copyrighted image on social media, borrowing a book or article through interlibrary loan, or quoting passages from a book when writing an essay. Activities such as these are not considered to be copyright infringement – in fact, the ability for users to make copies for specific purposes is an integral part of the Canadian Copyright Act.
Learn more about your rights under the Fair Dealing part of copyright law. And click here for our latest Copyright Watch Update, with a special Focus on Fair Dealing.