Remote Work and Copyright
Working from home and hybrid work have become unavoidable for most organizations.
Remote collaboration is provoking several organizational changes: the adoption of new digital platforms, in-house trainings and most importantly the sharing of content between colleagues.
New Normal
With a majority of people working remotely, we are witnessing a phenomenon of content dematerialization.
For example, phone apps make it easy to scan a document in one click and reproduce its content in a perfectly readable PDF version!
If technological means have evolved rapidly, our perception of issues related to the reproduction of documents needs an update.
Is Your Current Use Legal?
Although the digital shift has transformed the way we work with documents, the Copyright Act continues to provide a framework for their use.
Many of the reports, scientific articles, news stories, graphics and photos being shared have been created by individuals and organizations from outside your workplace.
Sharing Files: A Risky Practice
Here are examples of behaviors that expose your organization to legal complications for copyright infringement:
- Sharing resources to develop staff members' skills
- Putting reference material on an intranet: articles, publications, policies and standards
- Providing excerpts from articles or other sources to customers as part of promotional or marketing activities
Protecting Your Reputation and Contributing to Innovation
By respecting copyright law, an organization preserves its reputation and builds trust with its clients and collaborators.
Complying with good copyright practices also contributes to innovation!
Ensuring that writers, publishers, journalists, educators, photographers are fairly compensated for their work encourages the creation of original and relevant content, which in turn contributes to the evolution of the business world.
We can help you adopt the best practices to keep your document use simple and legal, with solutions tailored to your specific workplace.
Contact one of our experts