Welcome to SMIRK Unit
10 - Copyright Basics
and Reusing content


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What is copyright?

This unit covers how copyright applies in higher education. We start off with some basic facts about copyright, then look at some of the licensing schemes in use. We also list some of the exceptions to copyright law.

You can't copyright an idea, but you can copyright the expression of that idea. In the UK, the minute an idea becomes fixed, then the creator owns it. Basically, copyright is a way of protecting the creator's rights. The main law in the UK is the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 with amendments to update it for the digital age, these apply from June 2014.

How does it apply? There are three criteria:

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How long does it last?

Item type Years
Broadcasts 50 from creation
Sound recordings 50 from creation
Films 70 from death of key contributor
Typographical arrangement 25 years from creation
Literary, dramatic, musical or artistic works 70 from death of creator
Literary, dramatic, musical or artistic works (computer generated) 50 from creation

*Typographical arrangement is copyright to the publisher of journal article.

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Copyright and education

The use of materials protected by copyright is essential to the learning process. Educational resources exist in all formats that are recognised as 'works' in copyright law. Now we will loook at what you want to do. Do you want to:

Further information and training

For further information on copyright in higher education visit the Copyright User website. The library can also provide copyright advice, please email copyright@gcu.ac.uk

JISC legal have produced online copyright training which gives practical advice for staff in HE. You will need to register before logging in for the first time.
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Reusing content

Open Educational Resources (OERs) are digital materials that are made available online to be used or re-purposed for teaching, learning and research. They can include images, audio, video, animations, content modules and other digital resources.

Why use OERs rather than create your own content? There are several good reasons:

Copyright concerns

To guarantee you stay legal when reusing content follow these three simple steps:

The law includes a number of exceptions that allow for the use of all types of copyright work for certain educational purposes. For more information visit our copyright exceptions for education page.

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Creative Commons
licences

When content is created copyright on it is automatically assigned under UK law. The creator doesn't need to use the copyright symbol or assert their rights as creator, the very fact that they have given the idea a fixed form means that they own the copyright. You can’t ignore copyright when reusing resources, but you can ensure you stay legal by only using licensed content.The Creative Commons (CC) licensing movement was set up to enable creators to specify how they would like their content to be used. CC licences are legally binding and internationally recognised. CC licensed content is easy to reuse as the licence states exactly what you can and can’t do with the content. They are made up of five main components which are combined to specify how a resource can be reused:

  • CC = Creative Commons - Signifies a legally binding Creative Commons licence.
  • BY = Attribution - You must cite the original source when reusing content.
  • ND = No Derivatives - You must not alter or change the content when reusing it.
  • SA = Share Alike - You must license your new resource under the same terms when reusing content.
  • NC = Non-Commercial - You must not make commercial gain from your new resource when reusing content.

You will normally find a number of these elements have been added together to produce a licence. The next page gives some examples.


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International License
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Common CC licences

Here are some common examples of CC licences:

CC0 – Public domain licence

CC0 logo‌ There is one CC licence that we have not yet mentioned. CC0, or a public domain licence, lets creators place their content in the public domain so that others may freely build upon, enhance and reuse the work for any purpose without any restrictions. This means that you don’t need to give credit to the creators when you reuse their work and that you can alter it freely. An example of this would be the Open Clipart collection, where you can reuse items without having to even attribute the source.previous page next page

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Creative Commons Licence
SMIRK - Copyright in action by Marion Kelt, GCU is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Guidance on using OERs

Staff and students may wish to use Open Educational Resources (OERs) to support learning and teaching, including images, audio or video resources, animations and other digital resources.

A standard citation format is:
Type of content: Title by Author. Link (Licence)

For example:
Image: The Thinker by John Smith. http://commons.wikimedia.org (CC-BY-SA-3.0)

For further advice and guidance email copyright@gcu.ac.uk or call the library’s Digital Development team on 0141 273 1249.

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Finding reusable
resources

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Creative Commons Licence
SMIRK - Copyright in action by Marion Kelt, GCU is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.