Business Copyright Licence Canada

Published content is used every day in Canadian workplaces. Ninety-one percent of Canadian workers do so regularly. They copy and share newspaper and magazine articles, industry reports, and research papers to keep up-to-date with developments in their field as well as with what their competitors are doing, as well as for marketing and promotion purposes.

And yet, in many organizations, usage of published material is widely accepted without a licence or the appropriate permissions.

In today’s workplace:

There is very little policing or oversight on how content is used.
Many incorrectly believe their content use is not infringing.
Workersare focused on churning through work and taking short cuts where they can.
Copyright-protected material is seen as fair game to use for internal and external purposes.

These practices can put your organization at risk.

‍Access Copyright makes copyright compliance easier.

Most Canadian workers believe their workplace should be doing more to ensure copyright compliance.

Our business licences can help you do that by providing pre-approved permissions to copy and share books, articles, reports, and other published works without the complexity or cost of obtaining permissions from individual rightsholders so your team can keep working efficiently while reducing risk.

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The Access Copyright Business Licence

Employees at organizations rely on third-party content like news articles, industry reports, journals, and market intelligence to make informed decisions every day.

‍This includes:

Downloading articles and reports.
Sharing content through Teams, Slack, and email.
Saving PDFs to SharePoint and other internal knowledge bases.
Adding charts, excerpts, and images to presentations.
Circulating published content across departments.

In other words, everyday workplace behaviours. But many don't realize that access to content doesn't automatically include permission to copy, store, share, or reuse it.

What Our Research Found

In a 2025 survey of white-collar workers in Canada, we found that:

91% regularly use published content in their day-to-day work.
74% often download articles or other published works.
81% share content through internal channels such as Slack and Teams.

We also found that many employees mistakenly believe content found online is free to use, provided they cite the source. At the same time, there is widespread uncertainty about whether an organization's licences, subscriptions, and other content agreements permit employees to reuse and share published content across the organization.

This presents unnecessary legal, compliance, and reputational risk for Canadian businesses.

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Who Business Licensing Is For

Business licensing is designed for organizations that use published content in their day-to-day work – whether for internal sharing, training, research, marketing, or communications through presentations, reports, emails and storage in internal systems, for a few examples.

Our licence is tailored for organizations across many sectors, including:

Finance and banking
Insurance and law
Engineering and consulting
Biotech and pharmaceutical
Government and public agencies
Mining and energy
Marketing, communications, and research teams
Non-profit organizations

If your employees regularly share newspaper and magazine articles, circulate industry reports, reuse excerpts, or distribute published materials internally, a business licence is essential to ensure your content practices align with copyright law.

What Our Business Licence Offers

A business licence from Access Copyright provides simplified copyright permissions tailored to how organizations actually work.

Our licence empowers you to:

Copy and share articles, reports, graphs, photos, excerpts, and more internally.
Distribute content in print or digital formats.
Use published materials for training, research, or presentations.
Reuse content for internal communications and knowledge management.
Reduce the need to seek permission for individual uses.

Licences cover works from Access Copyright’s repertoire of over 100 million published titles, representing creators and publishers worldwide.

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The Solution

The Access Copyright Business Licence helps organizations reduce that risk while allowing employees to continue working the way they always have. The licence provides blanket permission to lawfully copy, store, and share published content from millions of works, helping your teams continue to use valuable information with confidence.

With Access Copyright Business Licence, you can:

Maintain your existing workflows.
Reduce copyright exposure and risk across your organization.
Empower your teams to lawfully share important published content.
Strengthen your compliance practices.

Why Businesses Should Choose Collective Licensing

Research shows that most Canadian employees are using published content in good faith, without realizing when permission is required. That misunderstanding quietly exposes organizations to legal, financial and reputational risk.

Here are a few facts about copyright those in workplaces don’t realize:

Copyright applies to internal sharing. Copyright law does not distinguish between a copy being made and shared with colleagues or to external parties.
Buying content isn’t the same as buying rights. Purchasing a publication, image, or report doesn’t include the rights to reproduce or share the material.
Citing doesn’t replace permission Citing the creator doesn’t remove the need for permission when content is used for work.

A simpler, smarter approach

With a single licence from Access Copyright, businesses benefit from:

Simplified copyright compliance through one agreement.
Legal clarity and protection that reduces infringement risk.
Operational efficiency without the need to contact individual rightsholders.
Ethical content use that supports creators and publishers.
Scalable coverage that reflects the size of your organization.

We represent the work of creators and publishers globally to make responsible content use practical for Canadian businesses.

How Business Licensing Works

Tell us about your organization and how you use published content.
We recommend the most appropriate licence based on your needs.
Receive a licence agreement outlining permitted uses, fees, and reporting requirements.
Use content confidently within your licence terms.

Resources for Business Licensees

Use Access Copyright’s Title Search and Permissions Tool to check permissions for a specific work in our repertoire or to request permission to copy a work beyond the terms and conditions of your licence.

Download our licensing guidelines.

Need assistance or have a question? We’re here to help.
‍
Royalty & Client Services
Email: licensingadmin@accesscopyright.ca
Phone: 416-868-1620 (toll-free 1-800-893-5777)

Business Licensing

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