Copyright Policy

Purpose

This policy ensures that the Canadian College of Traditional Chinese Medicine (CCTCM) complies with the Copyright Act (R.S.C., 1985, c. C-42). It establishes the rights and responsibilities of students, faculty, and staff with respect to the use of copyrighted materials, including physical textbooks, digital resources, and content hosted on the College’s Learning Management System (LMS).

Scope

This policy applies to all CCTCM students, faculty, instructors, and staff in their use, reproduction, and distribution of copyrighted works for educational, research, and administrative purposes.

Fair Dealing and Permitted Use

-Fair Dealing Exception: CCTCM adheres to the “Fair Dealing” exception under the Copyright Act (s. 29) for the purposes of research, private study, education, criticism, review, and news reporting. Faculty and students may reproduce a short excerpt from a copyright-protected work without the permission of the copyright holder, provided the use is fair.
A “short excerpt” is defined as:

• up to 10% of a copyright-protected work;
• one (1) chapter from a book;
• a single article from a periodical or journal;
• an entire artistic work (e.g., a diagram, photograph, or map) from a work containing other artistic works;
• an entire newspaper article or page.

Copying multiple short excerpts from the same work with the cumulative effect of reproducing the entire work, or a substantial part thereof, is strictly prohibited.

-Textbooks and Course Materials: Students and faculty may not share, copy, or distribute digital or physical textbooks, or substantial portions thereof, without authorization from the copyright holder or under a valid fair dealing exception. Permitted copying under fair dealing is limited to the short-excerpt thresholds defined above.

Learning Management System

-Instructor Materials: Lectures, presentations, videos, handouts, and other materials created by instructors are the intellectual property of the instructor or the College, as applicable. These materials are provided for personal educational use only. Unauthorized recording, reproduction, or distribution of instructor materials is a violation of this policy.
-Student Intellectual Property: Students retain copyright over their original assignments, discussion posts, and other works submitted through the LMS. By enrolling at CCTCM, students grant the College a non-exclusive, royalty-free licence to use these materials for internal purposes, including grading, plagiarism detection, and institutional quality assurance.
-Access Control: All copyrighted materials posted on the LMS must be behind a password-protected login and accessible only to students enrolled in the relevant course. Materials posted in the LMS may not be shared outside the course without the explicit permission of the copyright holder.

Patient Data and Clinical Records

-Ownership and Use: Copyright ownership under this policy does not extend to patient data. All patient records, treatment notes, and clinic data generated in the CCTCM Clinic are the legal property of the Clinic. Students and faculty may use de-identified patient data for research purposes only with the prior written approval of the Academic Dean and the Privacy Officer, and in compliance with the Personal Health Information Protection Act, 2004 (PHIPA).

Responsibilities

• Students must respect copyright restrictions and seek permission before reproducing or sharing protected materials beyond what is permitted under fair dealing.
• Faculty must ensure that course materials comply with copyright law and any applicable licensing agreements, and must model responsible use of copyrighted works.
• The College will provide guidance on copyright compliance, maintain necessary licences, and make this policy accessible to all members of the CCTCM community.

Violations

Unauthorized reproduction, distribution, or sharing of copyrighted materials may result in disciplinary action under CCTCM’s Academic Integrity Policy and may give rise to legal consequences under the Copyright Act.

Questions

For questions regarding copyright compliance or to request permissions assistance, contact the CCTCM office: info@cctcm.ca / 905-606-0062.