Can I post materials on my personal webpage without infringing copyright?
A faculty member or instructor is perfectly free to post materials for which he or she owns the copyright. Examples would be course outlines, course notes, previous examinations (assuming the faculty member created them) and the faculty member's own comments on the matters under discussion. Depending on the agreement that the faculty member has made with the journal in which his or her article is published, some version of an article by the faculty member may also be posted. Because provisions vary between publishers, no general guideline can be provided, but authors should be aware that in some cases they may no longer own copyright in their published works.
Further, a faculty member may post links to electronic copies of journal articles to which Memorial has a licence. Such links may require the student to log on and be validated before viewing the content. Links to public web sites are also allowed.
The posting of a complete work (e.g. a journal article, a poem, or a short story) for which the person posting does not own copyright, or have the permission in writing of the copyright holder, likely constitutes copyright infringement.
For more information, contact the Copyright Office. It is the responsibility of the person doing the posting to avoid infringement under the Copyright Act. Memorial University is not responsible for any acts that infringe copyright.
