Students must be able to access the law to understand:

• the exclusive rights given to the author of a work (copyright and moral rights);
• the definition of categories of works protected by the law;
• the duration of copyright;
• acts that constitute a violation of copyright and of moral rights;
• exceptions in the application of the Copyright Law, in particular on the fair dealing use of a work.

Students may in particular refer to methodological rules for citing sources in conformity with the required format (Task 3.2.5) and producing a mediagraphy according to the standard (Task 3.2.6).

Students who understand the idea of intellectual property will be able to:

• Define copyright in their own words;
• Name the categories of protected works;
• Explain how exceptions to the application of the law may apply in an educational context or institution.

Here are some expectations with regard to intellectual property and plagiarism:

• Students understand the meaning and intent of acticles in the IPESA (Institutional Policy on the Evaluation of Student Achievement) of their college regarding cheating and plagiarism;
• Students demonstrate an understanding of what plagiarism is. They can provide appropriate examples;
• Students give credit to the author of the works cited, produced, reproduced or shared.

In practice, students who conform with intellectual property rights complete their work without any form of plagiarism.

The following resources may be used to support the student in this task:

• Government websites on copyright;
• The website of the Canadian Copyright Act.
• Site for licences Creative Commons.

Consulting the Canadian Copyright Act and recent interpretive documents will help in conforming with the law.

The most common violation of intellectual property is plagiarism, but many others also exist (e.g. software piracy, fraud, falsifying documents, cheating, etc.

Most college libraries provide resources on this topic for students.