Digitizing Audio-Visual Material while respecting the Copyright Act

Owned by Barb Yantha
Last updated: Mar 25, 2022 by Natasha Jennings
4 min read

All audiovisual (AV) materials in the IST Media Library are able to be shown during a lecture for an in-person class, but there are special copyright considerations in doing so for an online class. Follow the below requirements for respecting copyright when digitizing AV material.  

If you are not able to digitize material, you might consider adding it to your course’s list of required material, for the student to acquire at their expense. Although some of your students might be able to find material on popular streaming sites such as Netflix, not all titles are available in all markets (often defined by country or blocks of countries), which means that some of your students may not be able to access required films and documentaries. (For example, the Netflix Canada catalogue is different than the Netflix Australia catalogue.) Other sites may be censored (e.g., YouTube is currently blocked in China).  

To digitize physical copies of AV material, you must meet these three requirements:

1. Ensure the title is not available to stream.

a. The university may already have a license available for streaming. You can search the IST Catalogue, by setting the Format to “Video Stream”, or you can search in Kanopy to see what titles are available there. More information about setting up your Kanopy account is also available.  

b. If the title is not currently available, you can request that IST purchase the license, or you mark it as required material for your students. If a license is available and the cost reasonable, IST will purchase the streaming license. If the title is available, but IST is unable to purchase it, IST will let you know so that you have the option to purchase it via your department. If a licensor or distributor does not respond to an email inquiry within their stated response time (or 2 weeks if they do not post a response time), or there is no way to contact them, you can proceed to Step 2.  

Note: If the title is available to be licensed, but IST, CEL, or your department opt not to purchase it, you cannot digitize it.  

Most streaming providers such as Netflix, Amazon Prime, or Disney+ are not considered available for teaching purchases under most circumstances. Netflix does have some exceptions and provides a list of titles that can be viewed, under certain conditions, for educational purposes. 

a. You can only digitize if you have a legal copy of the material (i.e. an authentic, non-infringing copy of the work; not a bootlegged or pirated copy), or if the license allows you to do so (e.g. a Creative Commons [CC] license). 

b. If you need help assessing either of these elements, please contact the Copyright & Licensing Librarian at copyright@uwaterloo.ca  

3. Ensure that you follow these steps while you create and share lessons.

a. Materials must be incorporated into the lesson as much as possible. This requires the material to be part of a lecture, whether given synchronously or asynchronously. This means that if you would like to show “Title X”, you must record commentary in the same file as the “Title X”. “Title X” must not be uploaded as a discrete file. 

b. Materials must be copied using screen-sharing and/or screen-recording technology. This means that you need to have access to a DVD drive or be able to otherwise connect a DVD player to your computer. Materials must not be “ripped” from DVDs as this violates the Copyright Act, which precludes any breaking of technological protection measures (i.e., digital locks). The Centre for Extended Learning has a learning module on Screen Recording that can help you get started. This resource page can help you choose the right tool for your purpose.  

c. If a lesson that contains AV material is uploaded for students to access asynchronously, the file must be restricted so that:  

i. The materials are not accessible to anyone other than the students and instructors connected to the class. 
ii. The materials are not downloadable (materials uploaded to LEARN are downloadable, so do not use LEARN to host the materials). 
In special circumstances, for instance, in cases where accessibility requirements merit providing direct access to a student, the recording can be provided. When recordings are provided to a student, the student must be informed of their obligation to delete the recording within 30 days of receiving their final course evaluations.
iii. The materials are uploaded only to Canadian servers. Microsoft Stream is the recommended place to share recordings. It uses a Canadian server, allows you to restrict access to the appropriate people, and provides a view-only platform for students to access materials.  

d. Thirty (30) days after students have received their course evaluations, the materials must be deleted from the streaming host.  

Need help?

Contact media.loans@uwaterloo.ca or ext. 41764.