Copyright Policy

Purpose

The purpose of this policy is to ensure that ISC/SCI complies with the Canadian Copyright Act. Failure to comply with the Copyright Act puts ISC/SCI at risk of infringing copyright. This policy sets out ISC/SCI’s position on the use of 3rd party material on the website and in its newsletter, Bulletin.

This policy informs all members of ISC/SCI about Canadian copyright law and informs members involved in the website and publication of the Bulletin of the actions required to comply with the law in the use of 3rd party material. This document does not constitute legal advice and legal advice should be sought where necessary.

This policy provides

• an overview of Canadian copyright law, and
• direction on the use of 3rd party material.

What is Copyright?

Copyright is a property right established by the Copyright Act of Canada. Copyright is owned by the creator of the work. To be protected by copyright a work must be fixed in a tangible medium of expression. Copyright protection then extends from the time of creation until 50 years after the creator’s death.

Copyright is protected internationally by the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works. Canada is a signatory to this treaty. Under this treaty creators in any member country are considered protected by the copyright protections of the country in which their creation is used, for example, when publishing content from another country in the Bulletin, the copyright law of Canada applies. The specifics of copyright protection vary from country to country.

In Canada the Copyright Act applies to

• literary works like books, magazines, pamphlets, and computer programs that consist of text;
• dramatic works like films, plays, scripts;
• musical works such as compositions;
• artistic works like paintings, sculptures, photographs.

The law gives the copyright owner a bundle of rights:

• the exclusive right to produce, reproduce, perform and publish a work
• the exclusive right to determine how a work will be used and to make money from the creation
• the moral rights to attribution, integrity and association of the work

Copyright is infringed when someone exercises one of the rights exclusive to the copyright owner without the author’s permission. Civil remedies such as an injunction to stop publication or monetary payments may apply in cases of infringement.

ISC/SCI and Copyright

• Copyright for articles published in the Bulletin or on the website remains with the author.  The author may republish the article elsewhere. ISC/SCI requests that republication of the article elsewhere include a notice that the article was originally published on the website or in the Bulletin.
• Authors are asked to sign a letter giving ISC/SCI permission to publish the article in print and on the ISC/SCI website and acknowledging that the article will be available freely in the archives of ISC/SCI.
• Requests received by ISC/SCI to reprint or quote from an article are directed to the author.
• Written permission must be obtained from the author to post an article on the society website.

Contacts

• The first point of contact for enquiries about copyright is the website administrator or the managing editor for the Bulletin.
• The Executive Committee is the approval authority for the copyright policy.

Appendices

• Letter of permission to publish an article in the Bulletin
• Letter requesting permission to post article on ISC/SCI website

Resources

• The Copyright Act of Canada   laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/c-42/
• Canadian Intellectual Property Office, “Copyright,” www.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/cipointernet-internetopic.nsf/eng/h_wr00003.html
• Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works www.wipo.int/treaties/en/ip/berne/
• Copyrightlaws  www.copyrightlaws.com/

FAQs

Can I submit my article to another publication after being published in the Bulletin?

• Yes, you can. You retain the copyright for your article when it is published by the Bulletin. We ask that you include a note in future publications saying that the article was originally published in the Bulletin.

Can we post 3^rd party authored articles on the society website under “Useful Resources”?

• Permission to post an article must be obtained in writing from the copyright holder of the article. It is, however, permissible to place a link to the article on the society website.

Updating

• The Copyright Policy will be reviewed and revised as needed whenever changes are made to Canadian legislation or whenever a significant court case is decided.
• The Managing Editor is responsible for reviewing the Copyright Policy annually with the incoming members of the Executive Committee.

Adopted by the Executive Committee on October 5, 2019       

Date Reviewed:  _________________      

Date Revised: ___________________