Tag: Fair dealing

Test your knowledge of copyright exceptions and ‘fair dealing’

26 February 2024 / Erica Levi

You usually need permission or a licence to use copyright-protected materials (e.g. text, images, video). However, for specific purposes in the UK, you may also be able to rely on ‘copyright exceptions’ as defined in UK legislation.

Disclaimer: This quiz is for educational purposes only, to help you understand copyright exceptions and direct you to further resources. Your answers will not be used for any purpose, and your personal data will not be collected.

With permission from Christina Daouti from UCL

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 apply a CC licence to my work if it incorporates non-CC licensed material?

2 February 2022 / Erica Levi

It depends on the purpose of your publication.

Technically, yes, you may apply one of the Creative Commons licences to your work even if it incorporates material used under fair dealing, which is another exception or limitation to copyright. Still, it is important to prominently mark any third-party material so re-users do not think the Creative Commons licence applies to that material.

The Creative Commons licence only applies to the rights you have in the work. For example, if your Creative Commons licensed slide deck includes a Flickr image you are using under any exceptions to copyright law, make sure to identify that image as not subject to the Creative Commons licence. For more information about incorporating work owned by others, see our page about marking third-party content.

Suppose you publish a new creation, for example, an Open Access journal article. In that case, it is better to seek permission from the copyright holder, making it clear that you will apply an open licence to the whole work. Whilst they’ll indicate to readers that their copyrighted resource is excluded from this licence, you cannot control downstream use. Unfortunately, it may increase the chance that the third-party copyright owner will reject the request, compared to a request for a ‘paywalled’ publication where distribution is more limited.

Extract from the Creative Commons’ Frequently Asked Questions webpage. It is available from https://creativecommons.org/faq/#may-i-apply-a-cc-license-to-my-work-if-it-incorporates-material-used-under-fair-use-or-another-exception-or-limitation-to-copyright [accessed on 2 February 2022]

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 create an audio recording from a book?

27 January 2022 / Erica Levi

Creating audio from books is considered an adaptation; therefore, you would require permission unless you have a strong case that your use falls under fair dealing or one of the exceptions to copyright law.

For example, if students were to read a portion of a book for the final assessment on a voice or acting module, the recording would be limited to the exam and for marking with the sole purpose of graduating. It would be fair dealing—the initial recital and recording fall under the exception of Illustration for instruction (S.32).

Let’s stretch it a bit. Let’s say the lecturer would like students to read portions of various books that first years have to read and make available to freshers as audiobooks. The purpose here changes from just examination purposes; the tutor will make the recording available for future students to listen to so that future students can be inspired by listening to recent graduates read.

Performance of a work falls under the exception to copyright law – an audiobook is a performance that falls under the exception of Public reading and performance (s.59) therefore since the recording will be available to students for free, and the recording will be from different books (versus the entire content of a single book) there would not be any commercial gain. The recording will need to be accompanied by a sufficient acknowledgement. The portion read should come from different books or, even better, from outside of the copyrighted text.

However, if the students were to recite different portions of the same book, which are then going to be stuck together to comprise the entire content of the book, whilst the assessment activity would still be acceptable, the final compiled product for the first years falls out of the fair dealing requirement of s.32 and the conditions of s.59 relating to “a reasonable extract”.

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 are the copyright exceptions in UK law?

25 January 2022 / Erica Levi

Exceptions are also known as ‘permitted acts’. Reusing a copyrighted work under an exception does not require permission from the copyright owner. All exceptions listed below come from the current UK copyright legislation (Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988) and are applicable in its jurisdiction.

Exception		Section 29: Research and private study
Category		Research/Education
Summary		You can make a single copy of a fair dealing amount for non-commercial research or private study
Commercial use allowed?		No
Contractual override allowed?		No
Fair dealing?		Yes
Potential application		Photocopying a chapter of a book to research a topic for an essay

Exception		Section 29A: Copies for text and data analysis for non-commercial research
Category		Research/Education
Summary		You can copy works for text and data mining providing you have lawful access
Commercial use allowed?		No
Contractual override allowed?		No
Fair dealing?		No
Potential application		Extracting articles from a database to carry out a linguistic frequency analysis

Exception		Section 30: Criticism, review, quotation and news reporting
Category		Research/Education
Summary		You can copy part of a work for these purposes The quotation element was introduced in 2014 and covers quoting for any purpose. It does not cover unpublished works
Commercial use allowed?		Yes
Contractual override allowed?		No
Fair dealing?		Yes
Potential application		Criticism: using low-resolution versions of artworks in a thesis to discuss an academic theme Review: using sentences from a newly published book to review it Quotation: using a line of poetry as a decorative backdrop for a poetry event

Exception		Section 30A: Caricature, parody or pastiche
Category		Research/Education
Summary		You can copy part of a work for this purpose It does not cover unpublished works This exception was introduced in 2014
Commercial use allowed?		Yes
Contractual override allowed?		No
Fair dealing?		Yes
Potential application		Using a few lines from a song to create a parody sketch, or using small amounts of a film to create a larger pastiche work

Exception		Section 31: Incidental inclusion of copyright material
Category		Performance
Summary		Copyright in a work is not infringed by its incidental inclusion in an artistic work, sound recording, film or broadcast. Nor is it infringed by the issue to the public of copies, the playing or showing of the work. Audio (such as musical work, words spoken or sung with music, or a sound recording or broadcast) is excluded from this exception if it is deliberately included.
Commercial use allowed?		Yes
Contractual override allowed?		N/A
Fair dealing?		Yes
Potential application		Showing in passing copyrighted material that is in the background while filming

Exception		Sections 31A and 31B: Accessible copies for disabled users
Category		Disability
Summary		Individuals and institutions can make an accessible copy of the whole or part of a work for users with any disability
Commercial use allowed?		No
Contractual override allowed?		No
Fair dealing?		No
Potential application		Making a large print copy of a book for a visually impaired person, so long as the person has lawful access to the original work

Exception		Section 32: Illustration for instruction
Category		Teaching
Summary		You can copy part of a work to illustrate a teaching point It is not limited to teaching within an educational establishment
Commercial use allowed?		No
Contractual override allowed?		No
Fair dealing?		Yes
Potential application		Including a short snippet of a video in a presentation, if the snippet is integral to the teaching point that you’re making

Exception		Section 34: Performing, playing or showing work in course of activities of an educational establishment
Category		Teaching
Summary		You can perform, play or show a work for purposes of instruction at an educational establishment Members of the public cannot be admitted
Commercial use allowed?		No
Contractual override allowed?		Unclear
Fair dealing?		No
Potential application		Playing a DVD of an entire film in a class where the film is related to the teaching

Exception		Section 35: Recording of broadcasts
Category		Teaching
Summary		You can record free-to-air broadcasts on behalf of educational establishments for non-commercial purposes However, the ERA Licence takes precedence over this exception
Commercial use allowed?		No
Contractual override allowed?		Yes
Fair dealing?		No
Potential application		Making a recording of a television show and playing that recording in class or making it available on a secure Virtual Learning Environment

Exception		Section 42: Copying by librarians, etc., replacement copies of works
Category		Preservation
Summary		Changing the media of some material to ensure its preservation, like converting analogue recordings into digital, providing that it is not practical to purchase the item (for example a special collection item)
Commercial use allowed?		No
Contractual override allowed?		Yes
Potential application		Changing the media of some material to ensure its preservation, like converting analogue recordings into digital, providing that it is not practical to purchase the item (for example, a special collection item)

Exception		Section 59: Public reading and performance
Category		Teaching
Summary		You can perform a published literary or dramatic a work
Commercial use allowed?		No
Contractual override allowed?		No
Fair dealing?		Yes
Potential application		Creating audio recording or acting

Exception		Section 62: Representation of certain artistic works on public display
Category		Performance
Summary		The copyright in such a work is not infringed by making a graphic work representing it, making a photograph or film of it, or making a broadcast of a visual image of it
Commercial use allowed?		Yes
Contractual override allowed?		N/A
Fair dealing?		Yes
Potential application		This section applies to buildings, sculptures, models for buildings and works of artistic craftsmanship if permanently situated in a public place or in premises open to the public

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Adapted from: The University Library. (2022?). Copyright exceptions. [online]. Available from https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/library/copyright/exceptionstab [Access on 25 January 2022].

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.

Exceptions in copyright

8 December 2021 / Erica Levi

In some parts of the world, copyright law has some limitations and allows some exceptions (for example, ‘fair use’ and ‘fair dealing’) to ensure that the rights of the public are not unduly restricted by copyright.

Thus, by offering exceptions to copyright, the Law permits certain very specific situations where you may be permitted limited use of copyright works without the copyright owner’s permission.

Exceptions and limitations to copyright vary by country, and they have territorial jurisdiction, meaning they apply only to that specific country.

In other words, since copyright law is unique to its jurisdiction, an exception could be valid in one country but not in others.

For more details, look at the Intellectual Property Office guide Exceptions to copyright: Education and Teaching.

See some more details of exceptions permitted by the UK in copyright law, with particular application to online teaching:

Fair dealing

Non-commercial research and private study exception

Criticism, review and reporting of current events

Teaching (in our case, specifically for online courses)

Helping disabled people

Parody, caricature and pastiche

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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.

Exception: parody, caricature and pastiche

8 December 2021 / Erica Levi

It is essential to understand that this exception only permits use for the purposes of caricature, parody, or pastiche to the extent that it is fair dealing. This must not be derogatory or cause commercial harm to the original.

Please see this article on a court case

Only Fools and Horses firm sues creators of ‘cushty’ dining events

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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.

Exception: helping disabled people

8 December 2021 / Erica Levi

There are two exceptions to copyright for the benefit of disabled people:

You, or someone acting on your behalf, make a copy of a lawfully obtained copyright work in a format that helps you access the material.
Educational establishments and charity organisations reproduce, communicate, make available, distribute and lend accessible format copies of protected works on behalf of disabled people. The exception permits acts such as:
- Making Braille, audio or large-print copies of books, newspapers or magazines for visually impaired people
- Adding audio descriptions to films or broadcasts for visually impaired people
- Making sub-titled films or broadcasts for deaf or hard-of-hearing people
- Making accessible copies of books, newspapers or magazines for dyslexic people.

However, the following requirements have to be met:

Accessible copies of copyright-protected works can be made only from lawfully-accessed copies
An accessible copy can only be made by a disabled person or an authorised body acting on their behalf
The copy can only be made for the personal use of a disabled person. Accessible copies cannot be made, communicated, made available, distributed or lent to a person who is not a disabled person under these exceptions
An accessible copy must only change a copyrighted work to the extent that is necessary to convert it to an accessible format
It must be done on a non-profit basis

Note: there is a discrepancy between accessibility regulations and copyright law, where the former doesn’t take precedent over the latter

Creating a transcript from a third-party-owned resource constitutes an adaptation, and it can only be done with the copyright holder’s permission.

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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.

Exception: illustration for instruction

8 December 2021 / Erica Levi

A limited amount of material can be used to illustrate a point in a lesson.

Additionally, several exceptions allow copyright works to be used for educational purposes, such as:

Copying of works in any medium (meaning minor uses, such as displaying a few lines of poetry on an interactive whiteboard, are permitted, unlike uses which would undermine sales of teaching material) as long as the use is
- solely to illustrate a point
- not done for commercial purposes
- accompanied by a sufficient acknowledgement, and
- the use is considered fair dealing.
Performing, playing or showing copyrighted works in a school, university or other educational establishments for educational purposes. However, it only applies if the audience is limited to teachers, pupils and others directly connected with the activities of the establishment.
If permitted under specific licences such as CLA and ERA licences.

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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.

Exception: criticism, review and reporting current events

8 December 2021 / Erica Levi

Fair dealing with a work for the purpose of reporting current events is allowed for any copyrighted work other than a photograph. In all cases, sufficient acknowledgement will be required.

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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.

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.