Copyright Guidance for Online Courses

Showing an entire movie or film or musical work online does represent more of a copyright issue than playing it in class - but there may be options for your students to access it independently online. UCalgary already has some licensed streaming content which you are welcome to use in your online course. Some examples are listed below but search the Library catalogue for additional content.

Library licensed collections:

• Alexander Street Press (music and video)
• Films on Demand
• National Film Board of Canada
• Curio

We may be able to purchase streaming access for additional media, but as this takes time, standard commercial streaming options like commonly subscribed to services like Netflix, Crave, Disney Plus or Spotify and Apple Music that students may also subscribe to and can access using their own accounts may sometimes be the easiest option. (For exclusive content, the commercial services may be the only option.) Copyright exception Section 30.01 can also apply, contact the Copyright Office if you need help to implement this copyright exception as there are rules that need to be followed to use it: such as copying without breaking TPMs; a clear notice to students; and you need to delete the copy in the course management system, or password protected location you posted the audiovisual material within 30 days after course evaluations have been issued.

If you have a scheduled film screening and the film is not available digitally through one of our electronic databases, please contact the Copyright Office for assistance.

This resource is adapted for the University of Calgary from material prepared by the Copyright Office, University of Minnesota document Copyright Services, Rapidly shifting your course from in-person to online. Unless otherwise noted, all content on the Copyright Information section of this site is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License. We would like to acknowledge some contribution of adaptation language from University of Toronto Scholarly Communications & Copyright Office and Ryerson University Library.

Consult the copyright website or email copyright@ucalgary.ca if you have other questions about copyright.​