Airing Copyright Written Material

AIRING COPYRIGHT MATERIAL

Authors' ownership of their own work is protected in Canada by the Canadian Copyright Act: http://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/C-42/page-1.html

Q: Can I read out other people’s literary works or articles from newspapers, magazines, or websites on the air?
A: If you have the permission of the copyright holder (usually the author), then you can. (even better if the author reads it him/herself). It is not legal in Canada to read out copyright material on the air without permission, except for certain purposes (see below).

Q: How do I know if a work is copyright?
A1: If it’s been published less than 50 years, it’s definitely still under copyright.
A2: If the author died less than 50 years ago, it’s still under copyright.
A3: If you don’t know the author, but it was published less than 75 years ago, it’s still under copyright.

Q: Can I use part of the work?
A: Yes, the Copyright Act says is is Fair Dealing if you excerpt from the work for purposes of literary criticism, review, or news reporting, but you have to give credit.

Q: What kind of credit must I give?
A: Name the source of the work, including the names of the author and publisher.

Q: What about a parody?
A: Canadian courts are back and forth on whether parody is fair dealing, on the basis that they are “criticism.”

Q: What if it’s out from under copyright?
A: You can use longer passages then – but remember, plagiarism is fundamentally wrong. Be sure always to give credit where credit is due.