Copyright in the Classroom

Copyright in the Classroom

Copibec (otherwise known as La Société québécoise de gestion collective des droits de reproduction) is a not-for-profit collective that manages copyright for publishers from Quebec, Canada and 30 other countries (USA, United Kingdom, Australia, etc). The Ministère de l’Éducation, de l’Enseignement supérieur has a licensing agreement with Copibec on behalf of preschool and elementary/high school institutions. For detailed information about what educators can copy or digitize under this agreement, please refer to the Copibec website: http://copibeceducation.ca/en/licence-primaire-secondaire

Students with Print Disabilities

The Copyright Act makes special provisions for students with perceptual (print) disabilities. Under the Act, a “perceptual disability” refers to severe or total impairment of sight or hearing, the inability to hold or manipulate a book, and an impairment relating to comprehension. For example, dysphasia, dyslexia and pervasive development disorders are considered perceptual disabilities.

For students with print disabilities who require alternate formats, educators may reproduce an entire work in large print or modify its original colours. They may also digitize and adapt the work to be compatible with assistive technology (such as text-to-speech), however if the work is already commercially available in an appropriate format, the Act requires it to be purchased. Many publishers of works on the Ministry’s list of Approved Instructional Materials have processes to obtain or purchase accessible textbooks.  For more information, please refer to our section on Textbooks.