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Unit 6: Copyright and IPR issues

Frequently asked questions

Can you tell me more about Crown copyright?
What are moral rights?
What are performance rights?
What about copyright for my own work?
Do I have to sign a publisher’s agreement?
What is Open Access?
How does Open Access relate to Open Archives?
How does copyright apply to the electronic environment?
Can I make items on my reading list available electronically?
Do I need copyright clearance to incorporate text, tables or diagrams within Blackboard?
If I use material as part of an assessment do I still need copyright permission?
Do I need copyright clearance to use slides and video in Blackboard?
Does copyright exist on the internet? Surely I can use materials that I find on the internet for educational purposes?
What about linking to other websites?
What about using images from other web sites? Am I able to use any images downloaded from the internet in my teaching?
How long does it take to get copyright clearance and how do I get it?

 

Can you tell me more about Crown copyright?

Crown copyright exists in works made by Her Majesty or by an officer or servant of the Crown in the course of his duties such as legislation, government reports and other official material. If the work in question was commercially published within 75 years of the end of the calendar year in which it was made, Crown copyright will last for 50 years from the end of the calendar year in which it was published. Conversely if it is not so published, Crown copyright will last for 125 years.

More recently the Crown has licensed a broad range of public sector information under an Open Government Licence. This is now the standard licence for Crown Copyright works. For some other Crown copyright works such as parliamentary materials, the Crown's Click-Use licence (which the University holds with the HMSO) governs the way you can deal with Crown copyright works.

What are moral rights?

An individual author of a copyright work will also have certain "moral rights". The two most important rights are:

  • The right to be identified as the author (although the author needs to "assert" this right). A failure to so identify will amount to an infringement of the author's moral rights. Even if you have the copyright owner's permission to reproduce the work, the obligation to identify the author will remain.
  • The right to object to derogatory treatment of the work (this can include any deletion, addition, alteration to the work which affects the reputation of the author). If a derogatory treatment of the work is made public, it will infringe the author's rights.

Unlike copyright itself, moral rights cannot be assigned and remain with the author.

What are performance rights?

In broad terms, performance rights will come into being when an individual gives a performance. A performance in this context would include a variety of different types of performance from a poetry reading to an improvised lecture.
Performance rights usually only need to be considered when a performance is to be recorded (either sound only or film). You will infringe an individual's performance rights if, without their consent, you record their performance or play a recording (which was made without consent) in public. It is therefore important if you wish to record a performance, that you seek permission from the performer. Similarly, if you are making a performance, such as giving a lecture, you should be asked for permission before someone else makes a recording of it.

What about copyright for my own work?

If you plan to publish any of your own work, copyright is an area you should consider carefully. It is standard practice for a publisher to ask you to sign some form of contract when publishing material with them. You should always read the terms and conditions very carefully before signing such an agreement. Many publishers may expect you to assign copyright to them for a set period of time. This may mean that you cannot use your own material for teaching purposes without first asking the publisher's permission. They may also restrict what you can do with your own material in terms of depositing it in an open archive or publishing it in an open access journal.

Do I have to sign a publisher’s agreement?

In most cases yes, although some publishers will allow you to retain copyright of your material. You can also amend the publishing contract and insert new terms and conditions which will ensure you are able to re-use your own work in your own teaching and research.

What is Open Access?

The open access movement was established in the late 1990s partly by academics and librarians who were frustrated with the increasing rise in journal subscription fees. The open access movement believes that scholarly information should be made available to the public for free, rather than locked into subscription databases. There are numerous open access journals available, for example BioMed Central, which contains over 150 open access journals in the medical and life sciences. See Unit 5 for more information.

How does Open Access relate to Open Archives?

Open archive repositories are increasingly being set up, usually by large institutions to capture their research output. Academic staff are encouraged to deposit their research publications into open archives so they are freely available to other researchers. These may take the form of 'pre-print' versions of a published article or they may also include the published version. In fact, Research Councils UK (RCUK) have now decreed that publicly funded research must be deposited in an open archive. However, unsurprisingly, some publishers feel threatened by this trend and you should always check your publishing agreement before depositing in such an archive.

How does copyright apply to the electronic environment?

The Copyright, Design and Patents Act 1988 clearly defines the copying of a work and specifically includes electronic storage. Material on the Web is subject to the same restrictions as other material. Copying in relation to a literary, dramatic, musical or artistic work means reproducing the work in any material form. This includes storing the work in any medium by electronic means. In addition to this the Act was amended in 2003 to give the author exclusive right to "communicate a work to the public" which includes making material available on a website or network.

The majority of resources stored in electronic format (such as material on the Internet) will be subject to copyright restrictions, unless there is an explicit statement that says otherwise. Therefore they are the property of the copyright holder (who might be the creator, the publisher, employer, and so on). Even if there is no copyright statement on the material you are viewing, you must not assume that it is copyright-free.
Key points to remember when using electronic material are:

  • Always check any copyright notices, or terms of use associated with any electronic resources you use.
  • Never assume that as you can easily access information, that it is freely available to reproduce.
  • Remember that distributing material in electronic format (such as by emailing it to colleagues or students, uploading it to GCULearn or placing it on an Intranet) constitutes copying and is likely to infringe the rights of the copyright owner unless you have permission from the owner.
  • If in any doubt always ask permission from the copyright owner before you copy or distribute their work.

Can I make items on my reading list available electronically?

You may wish to create an online reading list for your course, which in addition to bibliographic citations also contain links to full text journal articles or chapters from books. The full text readings are provided by linking to electronic journal or e-book sources on the publisher's own website, rather than downloading a copy of the article and placing it on your computer. You should be aware that you will need to locate a 'persistent' link to the resources on your reading list to ensure they are available for students to access. If you need further advice about this plese look at our scanning service web page.

Do I need copyright clearance to incorporate text, tables or diagrams within Blackboard?

You will need permission unless:
  • the items are out of copyright
  • you are the copyright holder
  • GCU is the copyright holder

You may be the author of an article but are not necessarily the copyright holder. You may have assigned rights to the publisher; it is important that you check your publishing contract or terms of agreement.
If a colleague has produced materials which you want to include in your website it is only courteous to discuss this with them. Remember, permission is also required to adapt material produced by someone else.

If I use material as part of an assessment do I still need copyright permission?

The Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 makes special provisions for examination purposes. For the purposes of setting, communicating or answering the questions in closed exams anything may be done with copyright materials (except for music) without permission. If you are using Blackboard's assessment tools, such as Quizzes or Surveys and wish to include copyrighted material, contact your librarian for more information.

Do I need copyright clearance to use slides and video in Blackboard?

Slides from your own lectures, for which you hold the copyright, can be easily incorporated into a Blackboard course. However you will need copyright permission to use materials which belong to other individuals. Take care to ensure that all images and multimedia in PowerPoint presentations are copyright free or permitted by the rights holder.
It is possible to include digitised TV or radio excerpts which have been recorded under the Educational Recording Agency (ERA) Licence. The Licence stipulates that an excerpt must not be edited and should be clearly identified with the programme title, date of recording and channel, together with a statement saying it was recorded under the terms of the ERA Licence. However, this material cannot currently be distributed beyond the GCU campus.

Does copyright exist on the internet? Surely I can use materials that I find on the internet for educational purposes?

Copyright exists for web-based materials in the same way as other published materials. You cannot cut and paste information into Blackboard from another website without permission. If you wish to direct students to other web-based materials, you can link to other websites, but the website owner may request that you place a link to the home page of the site, rather than a 'deep' link further into the site.


Before downloading or copying any material from the web you should pay particular attention to any copyright statement, terms and conditions or licence attached to the site. Increasingly organisations are including this information prominently on their site and you should read and take note of any specific restrictions. For example, look at the 'Terms of Use' for the BBC website, a link to which can be found at the very bottom of the home page.
Many educational websites will freely grant permission for teachers to use their material. You will first need to identify the copyright holder; the webmaster of the site is often the most useful first point of contact. You can address your permission request here in the first instance.

What about linking to other websites?

Linking is a fundamental part of the web and generally does not cause copyright issues. However, there are several good practice guidelines that you should adhere to.
If you are linking to a resource available on the web you should as far as possible avoid a "deep link", which bypasses the Home Page of an organisation. Deep links are less likely to be stable (this means that they are more likely to break over time) and the content of the link may be moved or taken down.
If you are linking to an external website you should ensure the link opens in a new browser window. This is to make it clear that the user is visiting an external site and leaving your website. It is particularly important when you are linking from Blackboard, as it will ensure the link does not open within the Blackboard frame.

What about using images from other websites? Am I able to use any images downloaded from the internet in my teaching?

It is technically fairly easy to download images from other websites and use them in your own site. However, you should be aware that this is infringing copyright law. If you wish to use an image from another website, permission should be obtained from the copyright holder. Increasingly, commercial website owners are including a watermark in an image to discourage illegal copying.


There are hassle-free ways to access copyright cleared or free to copy images. GCU has a number of copyright-free collections available for use including the JISC Media Hub which contains video, audio and images collections. There are also several sources of free images or open educational resources available on the web, for example you can search for images licensed under Creative Commons, which means the authors is happy for you to re-use the image under certain conditions. You can also carry out an Advanced Search on Google Images to locate images licensed for re-use.

Copyright free image collections:

How long does it take to get copyright clearance and how do I get it?

The University holds a number of licences which allow copying and scanning for classroom use, however there are often instances when it will be necessary to obtain permission to use materials. The time taken to get copyright permission can vary depending on individual copyright holders, and obtaining permission for electronic materials can take longer as some publishers still feel cautious about this medium.

If you do not receive a reply to your permission request, you should not assume you can use the material. Never assume that when a rights holder does not respond it means they are happy for their work to be used.
If you need any help in obtaining copyright permission to re-use material then contact your librarian for advice.

Content © Dr Jane Secker, LSE