Canadian Library Association (CLA) Releases Copyright Primer for Educators and School Library Staff

January 21, 2016

January 21, 2016, Ottawa: Educators and library staff in the Kindergarten through Grade 12 school system are facing many copyright challenges in their daily work with students and the operation of their school libraries and divisional or district media centres. Changes in 2012 to the Canadian Copyright Act and the Supreme Court decision on fair dealing have impacted significantly on the use of print, audiovisual and digital learning resources.

Today, the Canadian Library Association released the book Canadian Copyright in Schools and School Libraries: A Primer to assist school library staff and classroom teachers in their understanding of copyright law and Supreme Court of Canada decisions on fair dealing. This very practical handbook includes a description of new beneficial copyright clauses, recent advantageous fair dealing interpretations and an examination of specific copyright issues that arise in schools. Respectful of authors’ and publishers’ rights, the book also discusses the limitations on these new users’ rights and interpretations.

The 77 page monograph is written by Dr. John Tooth who has spent the majority of his career addressing copyright issues in the K-12 classrooms and school libraries.  The book is based on hundreds of questions from educators and school librarians who are constantly facing copyright issues related to classroom teaching, the Internet, music, research, non-classroom activities and school library/media centre operations.

“This much anticipated book in the school library community is a must have for all Canadian schools.” said Jo-Anne Gibson who is the co-moderator of CLA’s Voices for School Libraries Network. “As a teacher-librarian, I am often called upon to dispense advice about various copyright issues and rights of users that inevitably arise in my school. For years, John Tooth has been my go-to authority on all things copyright. With the publication of this book, all Canadian school staffs now have the same access to John’s expert advice.”

She continued “As information specialists in Canadian schools, school library staffs must have the latest and most comprehensive information available about copyright and the rights of users. This book fits that bill.Canadian Copyright in Schools and School Libraries decodes the complexities of Canadian Copyright law and puts it into terms that every educator can understand.”

Schools, school divisions or districts who would like a copyright education workshop on Canadian Copyright in Schools and School Libraries should contact John Tooth directly at j.tooth@videotron.ca

For more information or to purchase a copy, contact:

Agnieszka Arkuszewski
Office Manager and Executive Assistant
Canadian Library Association
P: 613-232-9625
E: info@cla.ca

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Want to know more about the book? Click here to see a video of John Tooth speaking about his book!