Primary copyright policies

These are the two primary University of Manitoba policies respecting copyright:

• Intellectual Property Policy 
• Use of Copyright Protected Materials Policy 

Responsible Conduct of Research

These policies and procedures help ensure that UM  has the highest standards of integrity in all research.

• Responsible Conduct of Research

The Copyright Act

In Canada, copyright-protected material is governed by the Copyright Act.

• Copyright Act

Webinar recordings 

There have been reports of webinars recordings being uploaded to websites, such as WebinarTV, without the consent or knowledge of the host. To avoid this happening, carefully review and follow the recommendations on UM Zoom Security to secure your webinars. 

If you find a recording of your webinar on one of these sites, you can submit a DMCA compliant take-down request via email to have it removed. Your request should include:

1. Your electronic or physical signature as the copyright owner, or as the person authorized to act on the copyright owner’s behalf. Identify whether you are signing as the copyright owner or agent;
2. Describe the work that you claim has been infringed. You may provide a link or the title of the work, or location where the work is displayed. A list of works being infringed on the site can also be provided. Attaching a copy of the work can be useful to help the website owner identify the work in question;
3. Identify how your copyright is being infringed and where. Provide an explanation of your copyright ownership and how the activity on the website is infringing your rights. The web address to the location of the infringement can also be provided to demonstrate the infringement;
4. Your contact information. Minimally your email address should be provided, but you may also include an address and telephone number;
5. Your statement that you have a good faith belief that the use is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law; and
6. Your sworn statement, made under penalty of perjury, that the information you have provided in your notice is accurate and that you are the copyright owner or authorized to act on the copyright owner’s behalf. Note that providing false information under the DMCA may be punishable under United States Federal law and false claims may be subject to civil liability.

You may also contact the Copyright Office at um.copyright@umanitoba.ca if you require further assistance.  

Copyright Term Changes

To comply with the United States of America-Mexico-Canada trade Agreement (USMCA) the Government of Canada implemented a copyright term extension to the Copyright Act in late 2022. As a result of these changes, the duration of copyright has been extended from 50 to 70 years after the year of death of the author. This change does not have retroactive effect, meaning that works that already entered the Public Domain before the legislative change remain in the Public Domain.

Although copyright durations in some types of works (for example film and sound recordings) follow different rules, in effect this change means that the Public Domain will remain static over the next two decades. Beginning in 2023, the Public Domain will consist of works created by authors who died in 1971 or earlier until additional works enter the Public Domain 70 years after the year of the death of the author, commencing in 2043.

Copyright notices

There has been a recent increase in fraudulent copyright notice emails (particularly DMCA complaints) claiming infringement of materials on websites. These emails may appear like genuine complaints but link to malicious websites or include a link to a zip file containing malicious files. Exercise caution if you receive a complaint, and report any suspicious emails to infosec@umanitoba.ca.