Frequently Asked Questions
Q: How do I determine if Scholastic Canada is the original copyright holder of a book?
A: All published books are protected by copyright law. This information is noted on the copyright page found at the beginning of every book. This means that no part of the book can be reproduced without permission. Any party wishing to do so must contact the publisher of the original book. It is not necessary to contact the author or illustrator to request permission. The publisher will ensure that the author and illustrator’s rights are protected.
The copyright notice identifies the year of copyright and the name and address of the publisher from whom written permission must be obtained if reproduction is being requested.
Aside from our own Canadian publishing list (i.e. books by Robert Munsch, Barbara Reid, etc.), Scholastic distributes books by many other publishers. If a different publisher is noted on the copyright page, we cannot grant permission and you will need to follow the guidelines of that publisher.
If one of our Scholastic affiliate publishers is credited, you will need to contact them directly:
Scholastic Australia, permissions@scholastic.com.au
- The Bad Guys, Pig the Pug, The Very Cranky Bear and other works by Aaron Blabey and Nick Bland
Scholastic Ltd. UK, pwatts@scholastic.co.uk
- The Gruffalo, Tom Gates, and other works by Julia Donaldson and Liz Pichon
Scholastic Inc. USA, asandhorst@scholastic.com
- Dog Man, Cat Kid, The Hunger Games, Clifford, etc.
Q: Can I post a video of a book reading online?
A: If your school has an Access Copyright license, you can access their Read Aloud Canadian Books Program. Copibec affiliates can also take advantage of a similar program.
Otherwise, as per the Canadian Copyright Act, we allow students and teachers to use Scholastic Canada copyright-protected books to create and post new work such as videos, for educational purposes only, provided that:
- The original book used to generate the content was acquired legally.
- The new work is only used for non-commercial purposes.
- The original book title, author, illustrator and Scholastic Canada Ltd. are mentioned verbally or shown in a credit as part of the video/new work.
- The work is not posted on a public website. You may post the video on your school's platform or another closed group or platform with limited access for your students, such as Edmodo, Google Classroom or a similar service. A video may be posted to YouTube ONLY IF the video is marked either "unlisted" or "private." Videos may not be marked “public.” (Click here for instructions on how to upload a video to YouTube as unlisted.)
Q: I am a teacher. Do I need permission to photocopy from one of your books?
A: If your school has an Access Copyright or Copibec licence, it allows you to photocopy from our books, so long as
- the copying is for educational purposes only, and
- no more than 10% of a published work is copied.
Teachers' guides are excluded from this licence, as are consumable items such as workbooks and assignment sheets. For more details, please visit the Access Copyright or Copibec websites. If your school does not have such a license, please complete our Permission Request Form.
Q: Do I need permission to show one of your book covers on my website or to link to your website?
A: We allow for links from other websites and/or cover images to be used on other websites for the promotion of our books only.
If you link to www.scholastic.ca, you may only link to the home page, and the link must be in plain text, unless otherwise approved in writing by Scholastic. Any such link must not damage, dilute or tarnish the goodwill associated with Scholastic and/or any Scholastic intellectual property, nor may the link create the false appearance that your website or organization is sponsored, endorsed by, affiliated or associated with Scholastic, and you may not "frame" Scholastic.ca. You may not link to Scholastic.ca from any website that is unlawful, abusive, indecent or obscene, that promotes violence or illegal acts or that is otherwise inappropriate in Scholastic's sole discretion. Scholastic reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to terminate any link from any website.
To request permission to place a link from your website to Scholastic.ca for any purpose other than book promotion, please send a written description including your name, address, website URL, and nature of the website to: permissions@scholastic.ca.
Q: Can I show a video that I purchased from Scholastic in my class or in my school?
A: No. Videos purchased from Scholastic Reading Clubs and Fairs do not include public performance rights and are intended for individual or home use only. Only videos obtained through certain educational suppliers or education media centres include public performance rights and they are generally priced higher to include these rights. Contact the Visual Education Centre or Audio-Ciné Films for these videos.