If you’re in the municipal sector, copyright applies to you
As a municipal employee or elected official in Quebec, you have to respect the Copyright Act when you copy and share excerpts from copyright-protected documents.
When you use content
Whether you’re an employee, elected official or volunteer in a Quebec municipality, city or regional county municipality (MRC), there are various ways you use content protected under the Copyright Act.
You need permission for all these types of use on paper or in digital format – and other uses as well – because they’re for professional purposes.
Our solutions are geared to your needs!
Limited needs
Get permission to use the content you want, exactly when you need it. The cost is calculated according to the type of use and is billed immediately.
Ongoing needs
Copibec offers a reproduction rights licence to municipalities, cities, MRCs and municipal and paramunicipal organizations in Quebec.
The licence covers most of the ways content is used by elected officials, employees and volunteers.
A licence makes it easier for you to manage copyright and lets you avoid the administrative costs and delays involved in getting permission for every article or excerpt you want to use during the year.
Many Quebec municipalities, cities and MRCs already have a licence from Copibec. Refer to the licensee list to see whether you’re already covered. What if your municipality or MRC isn’t listed?
With a reproduction rights licence, you’re good to go
Our repertoire
The Copibec repertoire (or catalogue) includes content (books, newspapers, legislative texts and other publications) and categories of works published in Quebec, the rest of Canada and in about 30 other countries (United States, United Kingdom, France, etc.) as long as they’re not specifically mentioned in the Exclusions List.
Authorized for internal use
Copying must be done by and for the municipality’s employees and elected officials.
Distributing copies to external users or clients (e.g. citizens or a paramunicipal organization) is not covered by the licence.
Reproduction limits
- Up to 10% of a document
But also:
- Entire article
- Entire report of a legal case
- Entire lyrics to a song
- Chapter that is not more than 20% of the pages in a book
If you want to exceed the reproduction limits, you need to get permission.
Do you have any questions? Contact us!
What’s allowed?
Do you want to reproduce or share content? Is that type of use allowed under the Copibec licence? Here are some answers!