Fair dealing is an exception under the Copyright Act that allows individuals to copy short excerpts of a work without asking for the copyright owner’s permission. Fair dealing is allowed under specific purposes:
The Supreme Court of Canada has identified six factors to consider:
As the act does not specify what would be considered a fair dealing, each use should be evaluated individually. If it is determined that a use is fair, you must provide a citation or attribution (required by law for criticism, review or news reporting and by SAIT’s academic policy for other uses) SAIT’s Fair Dealing Guidelines can be found here.
The information on this webpage is provided to you only as guidance and is intended for informational purposes only. It is not intended to be and does not represent legal advice. If you need legal advice, please contact a qualified legal professional.