Other Exceptions

[Updated: 06 Feb 2025]

While Fair Dealing may be the most well-known exception in the Copyright Act, the statute also includes a number of other exceptions that support the use of copyright-protected content for specific acts, purposes and user groups. If your use of a work falls within one of the following exceptions, permission to use the content may not be required.

An individual may use a legally acquired, copyright-protected work in order to make a new work for non-commercial purposes. The creator of this user-generated content may authorize an intermediary to disseminate their new work, as long as it does not have a substantial adverse effect, financially or otherwise, on the copyright owner of the original work. 

Examples include making a home video of a friend or family member dancing to a popular song and posting it online, or creating a "mash-up" of video clips and uploading it to YouTube. Citing the original source(s) and author(s) is required when it is reasonable to do so. 

For private purposes, an individual may copy a work or a substantial part of a work provided that the work was legally acquired, no technological protection measure was circumvented in order to access the work, and the copy is not then given away.

It is not an infringement to record a program for the purpose of listening to or viewing it later, provided the individual making the recording receives the program legally and no technological protection measure was circumvented in order to access the program. In addition, this exception specifies that the recording must not be kept longer than reasonably necessary, and its use is for personal purposes only.

29.24  Backup Copies

A person who owns a work, or has a licence to use a copy of a work, is allowed to copy that work for backup purposes in case the source copy is lost, damaged or otherwise rendered unusable. If the source copy is lost, damaged or otherwise rendered unusable, the reproduction then becomes the source copy. 

If at any point the person no longer owns or has licence to use the source copy, any reproductions of that work must be destroyed.

This section specifies that no action referred to in the exceptions relating to educational institutions, libraries, archives and museums may be carried out with motive of gain. 

An institution, or person acting under its authority, who carries out an act permitted under these exceptions is not considered to have a motive of gain if they recover no more than the costs, including overhead costs, associated with doing that act.

29.4 Educational Institutions

The Copyright Act provides a number of specific exceptions for educational institutions, which apply to uses of copyright-protected works at the University of Alberta. These include making and sharing copies of works for instruction, examinations, and public performances. Additional information on these exceptions is available on the For Instructors page of this website.

 

A number of specific actions are not considered infringing if they are done under certain circumstances as part of collection management and maintenance. Examples include making a copy of a work if it is deteriorating or damaged, or at risk of becoming so. Similarly, it is permissible to reproduce a work if it cannot be viewed, handled or listened to because of its condition or because of the atmospheric conditions in which it must be kept; or, if the format is obsolete or is becoming obsolete.

An educational institution, library, etc., where a machine such as a photocopier is made available for its users to make copies of works, must display signage or a notice warning of infringement of copyright. This Copyright Information notice from the U of A Copyright Office is an example of signage to be posted near public copiers on campus.

 

Any member of the university community with a perceptual disability (e.g., one that prevents or inhibits a person from reading or hearing), as well as any person or non-profit organization acting on their behalf, may copy a work protected by copyright into an alternate format specially designed for use by them, such as braille, talking books or sign language. 

This exception does not apply when the work or sound recording is commercially available in a format specially designed to meet the needs of the individual. This exception also does not extend to use of cinematographic works.

More information about alternate formats for the accessibility of course materials at U of A is available here.