Richmond Art Gallery

Rights & Reproduction

All materials contained within the Richmond Art Gallery website are made available for non-commercial, educational and/or personal use only. By downloading, printing or otherwise using or altering text, images, or files from the Richmond Art Gallery’s website, the user agrees that they will limit their use of these files to fair dealing, and will not violate the Richmond Art Gallery’s or any other party’s proprietary rights. Content from the website that is used in any way must retain any associated copyright and must acknowledge its source. The source citation should include the Richmond Art Gallery’s URL: www.richmondartgallery.org.

Copying or redistribution in any manner for commercial use, publication, or exploitation, is strictly prohibited, regardless of the format. If you wish to reproduce an image or any other content from the Richmond Art Gallery's website, you must obtain permission to do so.

Contact phickey@richmond.ca at the Gallery for further information.

Questions regarding Rights and Reproduction:

Can content from this website be printed out for use in research, private study or for teachers use in the classroom?
Canadian Heritage outlines fair dealing in the following manner on their website:

"Copyright in a work is not infringed where it is copied for fair dealing for limited purposes. Fair dealing for the purpose of research or private study does not infringe copyright. Fair dealing for criticism, review, or news reporting does not infringe copyright if proper credit is given as to the source and name of the author, performer, maker, or broadcaster, if applicable."

Teachers may make a single copy of items if it falls into the categories listed above for research, private study, criticism or review or in the case of written works, copy the information out by hand onto a surface such as a whiteboard, flip chart or blackboard without infringing on the creators copyright. Permission must be obtained to use a “substantial” portion of any creative work. Always check relevant copyright laws before using any information or images.

Who owns copyright?
Each creative work is different. Often the artist retains copyright but an artist can give their copyright over to a third party to manage. Or in a case where the artist is deceased the executor of the estate will manage the copyright. In the case of work created for an employer, the employer retains copyright. As soon as a work is created, it is covered by copyright. The creator does not need to register it for it to be protected. The creator always maintains moral rights to their work, even if they assign their copyright to another party. The Richmond Art Gallery has made every effort to identify the copyright holder for each artwork shown. Always get permission to use any content from websites and credit your sources.

How long does copyright last?
Copyright restrictions differ from country to country. With information derived from the internet, the standard is that the copyright laws in place in the country where the image or content is “used” are applicable. This issue is under debate. Again, always be aware of copyright laws relevant to the country you live in, this is particularly important when dealing with web content.

The answers given below relate to Canadian copyright:

Short answer: Copyright last for the life of the artist plus fifty years, with some exceptions, for a more in depth answer read the Canadian Copyright Act at http://www.cb-cda.gc.ca/info/act-e.html#rid-33308. After copyright expires work enters the public domain, which means that anyone can use it without infringing on the creators copyright and without paying a fee for its use.

Why is copyright important?
Copyright is important because the laws that govern fair dealing are in place to protect intellectual property, that is ideas and all original creations. By protecting the creators of works from having their ideas used without their permission or without credit given to them where credit is due, we are protecting our heritage and supporting the creators of information (artwork, music, film, etc.) that we enjoy.

Can the content from this site be saved to a CD, DVD or other public domain?
No

How can permission be gained to use any content from this website?
To use any of the content from this website for commercial purposes or any use other than personal fair dealing outlined above, written permission must be received from the Gallery. If the Gallery does not own the copyright, requests will be directed to the copyright owner. Requests will be dealt with on a case-by-case basis and decisions are at the sole discretion of the Richmond Art Gallery. Contact phickey@richmond.ca at the Gallery for further information.

For more information about copyright laws in Canada see the Copyright Board of Canada’s website.