Using copyright-protected material for an event

The Copyright Act allows faculty, staff and students to present copyright-protected sound recordings, films and videos, dramatic works, musical pieces and broadcasts without permission from the copyright holder if the presentation meets all of the following requirements.

The presentation must be:

• for educational or training purposes
• on university premises
• not for profit
• for an audience of mostly students and faculty

You can also potentially present copyright protected works under these provisions:

• Fair dealing, which is the use of a short excerpt of copyright-protected work for research or education purposes (see the University’s Fair dealing guidelines)
• Creative Commons and open access
• Alternatives to copyright

You must obtain permission and a licence from the copyright holders for uses such as:

• background music in an athletic facility or at a fair
• in a video
• live music or buskers
• as part of a dance or an event like 101 Week
• accompanying a fireworks display or a comedy show

Licensing for music

You can obtain a licence from the Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada (SOCAN) and Re:Sound copyright collectives. As of 2019, licences for both collectives, as well as further information, are available via Entandem Licensing.

SOCAN

SOCAN (Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada) is a not-for-profit organization that represents music creators, composers and publishers by licensing the use of their music in Canada, both live and recorded. SOCAN collects and distributes royalties to songwriters and music publishers.

Re:Sound

Re:Sound is a Canadian not-for-profit music licensing company that represents the performance rights of artists and record companies. It licenses only recorded music. Re:Sound collects fees on behalf of the owners of the rights to the sound recordings (such as musicians and record companies), whereas SOCAN collects fees on behalf of music composers, creators and publishers.

To show a film at a public event for profit, in an off-campus venue or for a majority non-student/faculty audience, or for purposes other than education or training, you must obtain permission from the copyright holders. This includes for events such as a “movie night” solely for entertainment purposes or a documentary screening where admission is charged.

Several copyright collective societies in Canada administer copyright for films. The vast majority of popular and current releases are handled by Criterion Pictures and Audio Ciné Films.

For other feature films, see this list of copyright collective societies. Since these societies process a high volume of requests, make your request well in advance of your event. If no request method is specified on the society’s website, see Asking for Permission.

If you would like to perform a copyright-protected work for profit, in a venue outside of the campus or for a majority non-student/faculty audience, you will need to obtain permission and a licence from the copyright holders.

The principal copyright collective societies for using copyright-protected dramatic works in Canada are the Playwrights’ Guild of Canada and the Société des auteurs et compositeurs dramatiques. They typically charge a fee for the licence and for each performance.

If you will be using live or recorded music as part of the production, you will also need to contact SOCAN (for recorded and live music) as well as Re:Sound (for recorded music only) for the appropriate rights and permissions via Entandem Licensing.