Author: Erica Levi

Exception: non-commercial research and private study exception (s29)

8 December 2021 / Erica Levi

A user can copy limited extracts of works when the use is non-commercial research or private study, but you must be genuinely studying (like you would if you were taking a university course).

You can make a copy only if you have lawful access to the work.

Use is only permitted when it is fair dealing; copying the whole work would not generally be considered as such.

In assessing whether your use of the work is permitted, you must ascertain if there is any financial impact on the copyright owner because of your use. Where the effect is not significant, the use may be acceptable.

If your use is for non-commercial research, you must ensure that sufficient acknowledgements support the work you reproduce.

Where a copy of a work has been made under this exception, copyright is infringed if the copy is transferred to any other person.

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The author takes no responsibility for the content of this page, which is not intended as binding legal advice. The views are about copyright in the UK Higher Education sector context.

What is fair dealing?

8 December 2021 / Erica Levi

Fair dealing in the UK is a legal term used to establish whether a specific use of copyright material is lawful or whether it infringes copyright. There is no statutory definition of fair dealing – it will always be a matter of fact, degree, impression and interpretation in each case.

The amount should be as much as a fair-minded and honest person would consider just, and it is not an excuse to infringe copyright.

Relevant factors in determining whether a particular dealing with a work is fair include:

Does using the work affect the market for the original work? If the use of a work acts as a substitute for it, causing the owner to lose revenue, then it is not likely to be fair.

Is the amount of the work taken reasonable and appropriate? Was it necessary to use the amount that was taken? Usually, only part of a work may be used.

‘Fair dealing’ is not to be confused with ‘Fair use’, a doctrine in the law of the United States.

Other countries’ copyright laws may refer to similar variations to the concept: fair use, fair dealing, free use and fair practice all allow some lawful use or reproduction of work without having to seek permission from the copyright owner(s) or infringing their interest.

Fair dealing and the reuse of Creative Commons licensed works

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The author takes no responsibility for the content of this page, which is not intended as binding legal advice. The views are about copyright in the UK Higher Education sector context.

What is copyrightable?

8 December 2021 / Erica Levi

Major international copyright treaties apply copyright to general categories of works (some countries may offer variations):

Literary and artistic works

Translations, adaptations, arrangements of music and alterations of literary and artistic works

Collections of literary and artistic works.

Additionally, depending on the country, it may include:

Applied art and industrial designs and models, and

Computer software.

What is NOT copyrightable?

Some governments make special provisions; for example, the US government works are meant to be dedicated to the public domain because the works are considered public resources.

Protection criterion to attract copyright protection

FIXATION: a work must be in permanent/fixed form (except broadcasts)

ORIGINALITY: a work must be original for skill, labour, judgment and author’s intellectual creation

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The author takes no responsibility for the content of this page, which is not intended as binding legal advice. The views are about copyright in the UK Higher Education sector context.

Copyright law

8 December 2021 / Erica Levi

As copyright protects any intellectual property, it ensures that material cannot be copied or altered without the copyright holder’s permission.

Copyright, Designs and Patents Act (CDPA) 1988 is the current copyright law in the UK. In 2014, several changes were made to this law to help teachers and lecturers deliver multimedia teaching without the risk of copyright infringement.

The CDPA aligns with the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works to ensure international protection and homogenisation.

The law offers exceptions to copyright, allowing certain very specific situations where you may be permitted limited use of copyright works without the copyright owner’s permission.

See the link below to learn more:

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The author takes no responsibility for the content of this page, which is not intended as binding legal advice. The views are about copyright in the UK Higher Education sector context.

Can I use other people’s data, graphs and diagrams?

7 December 2021 / Erica Levi

Can I use other people’s data?
You need to credit or complete reference data you have not collected.

Do I need permission to re-use charts and diagrams?
Using them under the criticism or review or the illustration for instruction exceptions may be permissible for teaching purposes. Still, they must be given full acknowledgement or attribution, and care must be taken to ensure they are not further distributed.

You may need to seek permission to use charts and diagrams that are considered original and unique. We must keep a copy of the permission for future reference and add a note in the resource “With permission from [the copyright owner]”.

What about if I do not get permission?
You may adapt considerably the chart/diagram in look and wording and then add the notification “Adapted from [original source’s reference]”. 

The author takes no responsibility for the content of this page, which is not intended as binding legal advice. The views are about copyright in the UK Higher Education sector context.

How can I use images?

7 December 2021 / Erica Levi

Images – including photographs, diagrams and other illustrations – available in print or from electronic sources are subject to copyright. It is essential to provide complete acknowledgements or attributions to the source.

For teaching purposes, using them under the criticism or review or the illustration for instruction exceptions may be permissible. Still, they must be given full acknowledgement or attribution, and care must be taken to ensure they are not further distributed.

Many sources of free images available on the Internet provide them with permission for use in certain circumstances, including teaching and private study, e.g., Creative Commons licensed images. You should always check the terms and conditions to ensure your use is legal and fully acknowledge your source.

Images freely available on the internet may still be protected by copyright, and you need permission from the rights-holder before copying them. Not all material marked as free to use on the Internet is meant to be distributed freely: material might be incorrectly annotated like, for example, some posted on Flickr and Wikimedia (for more details, see the related post following the link) – the latter complies with US law and marks some content as Public domain, but it is not considered to be so in our jurisdiction.

Images in sources covered by the CLA Licence may be scanned and distributed to students. They may also be included in presentations. Report any teaching material that includes scanned images to the digitisation service through the Subject Librarian.

The author takes no responsibility for the content of this page, which is not intended as binding legal advice. The views are about copyright in the UK Higher Education sector context.

Can I use music?

7 December 2021 / Erica Levi

Short extracts of commercial music may be used in teaching materials for the purposes of illustration, instruction or criticism and review in the classroom. Still, you would need permission from the rights holder to include it on online platforms.

Find here a list of providers of free music and soundtracks.

The author takes no responsibility for the content of this page, which is not intended as binding legal advice. The views are about copyright in the UK Higher Education sector context.

Can I record online live lectures?

7 December 2021 / Erica Levi

Many aspects need to be considered when recording lectures, and CU group guidance is being written. In the meantime, the JISC guide, Recording lectures: legal considerations, offers clear guidance, including copyright issues that may arise when recording lectures. 

Lecture recording and data protection

The Information Governance Unit (IGU) is working on guidance on recording and filming lectures, which will be published on the Data Hub once it is complete.

The Data Protection Act 2018 and General Data Protection Regulation allow individuals to control how information about them is to be used. The University is processing their data by recording identifiable living individuals – lecturers, students and others.

Any processing must be fair and comply with the data protection principles. This includes identifying a lawful basis for using and re-using recordings of teaching sessions that include personal data.

The University could rely upon the lawful basis of Legitimate Interests (an assessment would need to be completed if relying upon this lawful basis, and IGU can assist with completing this document). This means that obtaining individuals’ consent for each recording is unnecessary.

Privacy notice

Clear information about the nature and purpose of the recording must be provided in advance to those being recorded. This includes who is making the recording, how it will be re-used, the lawful basis, how long the recording will be kept and to whom it will be disclosed or shared. This is usually done as a Privacy Notice (IGU can assist with drafting this).

In practice, all participants should be referred to the privacy notice, informed that a lecture is being recorded and, where possible, provided with an opt-out (e.g., a specified area in the lecture room where the recording will not occur). Likewise, where a teaching session is taking place online and being recorded (for re-use of the teaching session), participants need to be referred to the privacy notice, informed that a recording is taking place and provided with information about the further re-use of the recording.

In some circumstances, when a recording is to take place, a simple announcement by the lecturer (referring to the privacy notice) will be sufficient; where there is likely to be a significant contribution or presentation by a participant or another party, a signed consent form before the recording is needed. Recordings cannot subsequently be used without consent for purposes incompatible with those for which they were made.

Please contact the Information Governance Unit or similar office in your Institution directly for further advice and guidance. You may look at the University’s guidance and the JISC guide Recording lectures: legal considerations.

The author takes no responsibility for the content of this page, which is not intended as binding legal advice. The views are about copyright in the UK Higher Education sector context.

Can I use TED Talks?

7 December 2021 / Erica Levi

TED Talks impose a fee to upload videos on a Subscription-Based Educational Service (Online Education Company) such as FutureLearn.

TED talks are distributed under the Creative Commons By Attribution NonCommercial-NonDerivatives. Therefore, they cannot be used for commercial purposes. No edits are allowed. A good practice is to suggest students search for a specific video directly on the website.

It is OK to include links to TED Talks to Aula.

There are several TED Talks; for example, TEDx talks are only available on YouTube. See Can I link to YouTube?

Can I link to videos and films?

What about hyperlinks and copyright?

Can I make a transcript or a third party owned video?

Can I show clips or whole movies online?

The author takes no responsibility for the content of this page, which is not intended as binding legal advice. The views are about copyright in the UK Higher Education sector context.

Can I link to YouTube?

7 December 2021 / Erica Levi

Providing that the video has been lawfully uploaded on YouTube, you may link to it.

Some countries block access to YouTube, and by linking to resources on the platform, you may disadvantage some foreign students. Sometimes, the same organisation on YouTube will make videos available through other platforms, such as Vimeo.

It is possible to seek permission directly with the organisation (you must retain the permission correspondence for future reference).

If using YouTube is unavoidable, you must provide alternatives for the activity.  

Can I link to videos and films?

What about hyperlinks and copyright?

Can I make a transcript or a third party owned video?

Can I use TED Talks?

Can I show clips or whole movies online?

The author takes no responsibility for the content of this page, which is not intended as binding legal advice. The views are about copyright in the UK Higher Education sector context.