The copyright technician here at St. Lawrence College is solely responsible for the education, advocacy, and dissemination of information regarding copyright and fair dealing. If you believe a student has broken copyright law, please contact the Student Rights and Responsibilities Office. If you suspect a staff member has broken copyright law, please contact your Dean.
The copyright technician does not enforce copyright law and they are not a lawyer. As the end-user, copyright and fair dealing compliance lies with you.
Textbook misuse is the #1 copyright issue affecting colleges like ours. Just because you own a book, doesn't mean you can do whatever you want with it. The physical item is yours, but you do not have the right to distribute the content within the book.
The Copyright Act of Canada affords students a selection of rights when it comes to reusing copyrighted material.
The full college policy is available to read here.
The part of the law that's allowing you certain use of copyrighted material is called Fair Dealing.
Money is the #1 barrier for all students accessing quality education and succeeding in your studies. There are options.
Each book publisher has their own sets of Terms and Conditions that govern use of their published material. In most cases, Fair Dealing guidelines will cover you but only if you are the owner of the book.
Fair Dealing guidelines apply for books in the library, but not for certain accompanying material. Accompanying material are items that come with our print texts, that only come with the purchase of a print text. Photocopying these accompanying material without owning the book does not make the publisher any money, which they really don't like.
You can ask permission from these publishers to photocopy their material using the forms below.
Phrases like " Academic Integrity" and "Academic Misconduct" may seem daunting if this is your first time encountering them. We can break these down to two fundamental principles; Be Responsible, and Be Honest.
Part of being responsible in your academic career and beyond is citing your sources. The majority of programs here at St. Lawrence College use APA 7th edition, but there are some that use MLA 9th edition. Please confirm with your professor which citation style your program uses.
Cite everything and anything, but only if you actually use it. Your professors do not want a 20 page bibliography.
However, common facts do not need do be cited such as:
Need help? We have guides available online (linked above) and printed in the library, and you can also book an appointment with the Academic Support Centre.
If an idea isn't yours, don't say it is. Paraphrase, reword, and explain what others have said or written in your own words.
There's a variety of software available for you and your professors to use that checks for plagiarism.
Your professors have taught dozens, if not hundreds of students before you. They've seen just about everything.