Copyright guidelines for students
What is Copyright?
Copyright legislation gives copyright owners the right to stop unauthorized copying of their works. Owners may licence others to copy their works, sometimes on payment of a fee. The owner (or rightsholder) of a work is generally the author.
How long is copyright in the UK?
- Copyright for literary, dramatic, musical and artistic works is 70 years following the death of the creator, or 25 years from publication, whichever is later. This means that although the creator of a work may have died more than 70 years ago, you cannot assume that you can automatically copy the work.
- For sound recordings copyright lasts for 50 years from the end of the year in which they were made, released or broadcast.
- New typographical settings of old work may still be in copyright until 25 years after publication of the new edition.
As University students you need to be aware of the law of Copyright and how it affects your university work. This document gives general simplified guidelines, but it is not a legal document. The guidelines are based on:
- Copyright, Design and Patents Act, 1988 and subsequent Statutory Instruments
- Higher Education Copyright Accord
- Copyright Licensing Agency Regulations
You may wish to consult the original documents for further clarification.
The legislation protects against copying substantial parts of a work without permission from the copyright owner and, usually, some payment. There may be several different rightsholders concerned with one work e.g. the copyright in an illustration in a book may belong to the artist rather than the author or publisher. In these cases, if permission is needed in order to copy, then all rightsholders must be approached.
For further information on Intellectual property rights see the Patent Office website at:
http://www.intellectual-property.gov.uk/std/resources/copyright/index.htm
What Can I Copy?
Limited copying is allowed through:
- Certain Exemptions to the Copyright rule, whereby some minor uses may not infringe copyright.
- Licences that the University holds.
NB These licences cover all full and part-time students, except those on short courses.
At present licences are held from:
- Copyright Licensing Agency (CLA) – covering publications such as books, periodicals, law reports. There are certain excluded works. Check the website for details.
- CLA – digitisation licence. This allows in-house digitisation of materials, but only when permission has been obtained from the rightsholder.
- Newspaper Licensing Agency – covering press cuttings
- Design and Artists Copyright Society Ltd (DACS) – covering artistic works on slides
- Educational Recording Agency Ltd (ERA) – covering off-air TV and radio broadcasts
- Mechanical-Copyright Protection Society Ltd (MCPS) – covering commercially published records and pre-recorded tapes
- Ordnance Survey – covering Ordnance Survey mapping
- Open University Educational Enterprises – covering videos produced by the Open University
- Nationally agreed licences:
- NHS
This allows NHS staff to photocopy from published material with some variations from the HEI licence. User guidelines are available in the library. - HMSO
Also known as a Click-Use licence. Crown copyright on certain categories of material (notably UK legislation and parliamentary publications) has recently been waived. This means that material may be copied in full if taken from an official government source. There are some restrictions so you are advised to consult the websites for further guidance.
http://www.hmso.gov.uk/guides.htm
http://www.hmso.gov.uk/copyright/licences/click-use-home.htm
Guides to Exemptions and Copying Limitations
In the main these exemptions relate to copying for the purposes of research, private study or teaching and relate solely to printed resources. Digital copying, with very few exceptions, requires copyright clearance.
The limitations, bound by the Fair Dealing: Copyright Act 1988, are as follows.
Any individual may make a personal copy of a part of any work for the purposes of private study, subject to the following conditions:
- The amount copied should not be a substantial part of the publication. However, copying crucial parts of a work (e.g. the final pages of a crime novel) will not be allowed.
- Copying should only be for research or private study. If the research is intended to lead to a future publication, then the rightsholder’s permission must be sought.
- Parts of a work can be copied for criticism or review purposes, so long as they are not substantial. An acknowledgement of source must be made.
- Parts of a publication can be copied for reporting current events, so long as they are not substantial. This must be accompanied by an acknowledgement of source.
The Blanket Licence from the CLA allows limited copying without the permission of the copyright owner as follows:
- Up to 5% of a book or a complete chapter - whichever is the greater.
- Up to 5% or a single article from a journal – whichever is the greater.
- A poem or short story that doesn’t exceed 10 pages in length.
- One report from a law report.
In addition it states:
- Multiple copies of an item for educational purposes can be made providing the maximum amount does not exceed one copy per student on a course of study plus one for the tutor. The copies must be made by the person giving the instruction and by paper to paper copying only.
- The licence does not permit the copying of printed music, maps and charts, theses, Bibles and prayer books, or separate illustrations or photographs or works published by non-participating US publishers.
- These instructions relate to a single copy and to copying for course packs.
Visually Impaired Students
You may make a copy in a more accessible format (e.g. by enlarging the original on a photocopier), for your personal use, as long as:
- one copy of the original has been purchased by you or by the institution.
- the material is not already commercially available in a “large print” or other more suitable format.
- the copy is not then kept by the library in the Short loan collection.
The basic extent limitations (of 5%/one chapter/one article, as above) do not apply to copies made for visually impaired people. This means that you may copy as much as is required (the entire book or journal issue if necessary). Further information about these rules are available on the Publishers Licensing Society website.
Copyright and the Internet
Material on the Internet is subject to copyright and electronic copying needs the permission of the copyright owner, or a licence, in the same way as paper copying. Copying starts when you load a web page on to your browser. It is generally considered that this copying is permitted but you cannot assume that printing out a web page is allowed. If there are no clear permissions granted on the web page itself you will need the permission of the copyright owner to print the page or to cut and paste parts of the page. Further guidance on copying and the Internet can be found on the CLA website.
Online course materials
The same rules for paper-based materials apply to online items. This means that as for paper-based materials, you can make one copy to paper of online materials, whether these are course materials digitised and made available online, or full-text journal articles. When you print out digitised course materials you must be careful to include in the printing the Compulsory Header or coversheet, which contains the details of the clearance and the material’s identity, the Digitisation Disclaimer and the Copyright Reminder.
Where to look for further information:
Papers on copyright issues for the electronic library
Copy electronically fairly or unfairly?
Who to contact at Canterbury Christ Church University:
For help with Copyright enquiries:
Broadstairs campus: 01843 609103 (Broadstairslc@cant.ac.uk)
Canterbury campus: Wendy Sage (wds1)
Salomons campus: Mansion Library: Kathy Chaney (kvc1s)
Salomons campus: Hayloft Library: Andrea Ford (af24s)
For Intellectual Property Rights enquires:
The University Solicitor’s Office: Paul Bogle (pb108) or Eileen Churchward (ec1)