Tag: Licence

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.

Why shouldn’t we link directly to PDFs?

20 January 2022 / Erica Levi

Links to PDFs change more frequently than a journal’s article landing page, for example. Therefore, linking directly to PDFs will cause links to break often, and the resources offered to students will be of high maintenance.

Unless copyright exceptions and licences permit it, the law will not allow you to redistribute the PDF freely to students.

What about hyperlinks and copyright?

How do I link to e-published articles?

How do I reference sources?

How do I find a legal version of an e-publication?

What about hyperlinks and copyright?

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.

Notes on accessing newspaper articles online

13 January 2022 / Erica Levi

Articles can generally be accessed on Locate when the library subscribes to the newspaper’s back issues.

Independent journalists write articles, but sometimes they aren’t available through subscriptions like the library’s. This may be due to the contract independent journalists have with that newspaper and the newspaper’s contract with that distribution platform.

Sometimes the newspaper makes the article available online for a while, but then has to take it down for contractual reasons.

It may be inconvenient, but that is how independent journalists earn a living and maintain their clout.

If the article is part of essential reading, you could try to seek permission from the journalist. Unfortunately, Coventry University doesn’t hold a Newspaper Licensing Agency (NLA) educational licence.

You may also try another avenue by asking a subject librarian if the article can be obtained through another licence, such as the CLA one.

Additionally, if a specific article previously openly available online is becoming fiddly to find, it is because it is in the process of being removed – search engines’ crawlers are still finding traces of it, but eventually, they will lose track – you might as well find an alternative resource to ensure longevity in the course (unless you obtain permission).

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 do I pick a Creative Commons licence for my work?

11 January 2022 / Erica Levi

The colourful infographic from Aston University (licensed CC-BY) is a tree diagram explaining how creators can choose different Creative Commons licenses. It presents green leaves on the tree branches, a blue sky with clouds in the background, and a grassy ground with flowers. The overall design is friendly and visually appealing, making the information accessible and easy to understand. The image is titled "Creative Commons Licence Chooser” and briefly explains Creative Commons licences. It reads: "Creative Commons (CC) licences complement copyright by permitting sharing and reuse of published content with conditions." The Tree Diagram Structure has multiple branches, each representing a different Creative Commons licence. The branches split on whether the licence will allow commercial use and whether adaptations of the work are permitted. Each branch has green leaves with text indicating the licence type and answers to specific questions about the licence conditions. Starting from the trunk, the first question is, “Allow adaptations of your work to be shared?”. A positive answer will follow with a further question, “Allow commercial uses of your work?” if the chooser’s answer is positive, then the work will be licensed CC BY (Attribution); if it is negative, the licence will be CC BY-NC (Attribution-NonCommercial). If the answer to the first question, “Allow adaptations of your work to be shared?” was positive if others share alike, a further question will follow again to ascertain whether commercial uses of the work will be allowed: if the chooser’s answer is positive, then the work will be licensed CC BY-SA (Attribution-ShareAlike); if it is negative, the licence will be CC BY-NC-SA (Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike). If the answer to the first question, “Allow adaptations of your work to be shared?” was negative, a further question will follow again to ascertain whether commercial uses of the work will be allowed: if the chooser’s answer is positive, then the work will be licensed CC BY-ND (Attribution-NoDerivs); if it is negative, the licence will be; CC BY-NC-ND (Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs)

Please note that commonly, the Non-Derivative element (ND) of a Creative Commons licence makes the work released NOT with an open licence.

Find here a further infographic, also from Aston University:

The image is an infographic titled "Creative Commons Licences - Know the Difference". It explains Creative Commons (CC) licences, which allow content creators to specify how others can use their work. There are six types of CC licences: CC BY (it allows others to distribute, remix, tweak, and build upon the work, even commercially, as long as credit is given to the original creator); CC BY-SA (others can remix, tweak, and build upon the work even for commercial purposes, as long as they credit the creator and license new creations under identical terms); CC BY-ND (it allows for redistribution, commercial and non-commercial, as long as it is passed along unchanged and with credit to the creator); CC BY-NC (others can remix, tweak, and build upon the work non-commercially, and their new works must acknowledge the creator and be non-commercial; CC BY-NC-SA (others can remix, tweak, and build upon the work non-commercially, as long as they credit the creator and license new creations under identical terms; and CC BY-NC-ND (it allows others to download the works and share them with others as long as they credit the creator, but they can’t change them in any way or use them commercially). The infographic includes icons representing each licence type and conditions, such as Attribution, No Derivative Works, Non-Commercial, and Share Alike.

Forward to Considerations on remixed/adapted and derivative works for Creative Commons licensed material

Back to How do you reference and acknowledge 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.

Creative Commons licences

10 January 2022 / Erica Levi

Find here at a glance information on the Creative Commons:

1. What are the Creative Commons licences?
2. Fair dealing and the reuse of Creative Commons licensed works
3. What are the elements of the Creative Commons?
4. What are the six Creative Commons licences?
5. How do the Creative Commons licences work technically?
6. How do you reference and acknowledge Creative Commons licensed works?
7. How do I pick a Creative Commons licence for my work?
8. Considerations on remixed/adapted and derivative works for Creative Commons licensed material
9. Creative Commons’ adapters and remixers licence chart
10. How can I use works on Wikimedia and Wikipedia?

Which licences does the Coventry University Group manage centrally?

10 January 2022 / Erica Levi

Downloaded and scanned materials such as book chapters and journal articles is most likely subject to copyright restrictions. You may use Locate, the library catalogue, to discover the library’s holdings and obtain permalinks, or use closed-course access for quick access to resources.

However, some materials (for example, British Standards and Digimap) have territorial restrictions – students connecting from abroad cannot gain access.

Please check with the Subject Librarian for updated information, including the licences below.

CLA licence
Educational Recording Agency (ERA) Licence
The university also subscribes to Box of Broadcasts (BoB), a service for UK universities that allows you to view and record TV or radio programmes on over 60 channels. Please check with the Subject Librarian for updated information on territorial restrictions.

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.

3. Licences

10 January 2022 / Erica Levi

Licences allow copyright owners to permit others to use the owned work. They can be exclusive, non-exclusive and open.

Licences should not be confused with the assignment of rights, where the copyright ownership is transferred from one entity to another.

The reuse of material has to fall within the terms allowed by the licence chosen by the copyright holder, apart from the following scenarios:

As a user, you can justify the application of one of the copyright exceptions or
The material is in the public domain and, hence, not subject to any licences.

Licenced material may be purchased through paid agreements (for example, through an institutional licence or contracts) or accessed for free if released to the public with an open licence or following an ad hoc permission granted by the copyright holder.

Look at the following categories to know more:

Can I use third-party-owned resources for teaching?

You might breach copyright law if you upload third-party-owned resources …

Which licences does the Coventry University Group manage centrally?

Downloaded and scanned materials such as book chapters and journal …

What are open licences?
A free or open licence is a licensing
agreement that allows individuals…

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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 third-party-owned resources for teaching?

14 December 2021 / Erica Levi

You might breach copyright law if you upload third-party-owned resources without permission.

UK copyright law allows some exceptions for teaching, but they apply only within the UK.

As a general point, in assessing whether your use of the work is permitted, you must consider if there is any financial impact on the copyright owner because of your use (for example, loss in sales).

Linking to known illegal copies of a resource is unlawful.

In any case, you must provide suitable acknowledgements to the original source.

Some course material is available through licences purchased by the university.

In particular, Coventry University Library is responsible for the following licences:

The inclusion of downloaded and scanned materials such as book chapters and journal articles is most likely to be subject to copyright restrictions.

You may use Locate, the library catalogue, to discover the library’s holdings and obtain permalinks, or use closed-course access for quick access to resources.

However, some materials (for example, British Standards and Digimap) have territorial restrictions – students connecting from abroad cannot gain access. Please check with the Subject Librarian for updated information, including the licences below.

CLA licence

The University has a Higher Education Licence with the CLA (Copyright Licensing Agency) that covers most UK publications and some US and other international publishers. The CLA Licence allows you to copy and distribute limited amounts of material without requesting permission each time.

As the process is managed by the library, you need to contact your course’s Subject Librarian for more information on whether your re-use of material is covered under the licence.

Educational Recording Agency (ERA) Licence

The university also subscribes to Box of Broadcasts (BoB), a service for UK universities that allows you to view and record TV or radio programmes on over 60 channels. Please check with the Subject Librarian for updated information on territorial restrictions.

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 Creative Commons licences?

9 December 2021 / Erica Levi

Creative Commons (CC) licences are one of the public copyright licences that enable the free distribution of an otherwise copyrighted creation.

A CC licence is used when an author or copyright owner wants to give other people the right to share, use and build upon a work the author has created.

CC licences are built on copyright and are designed to give more options to creators
who want to share.

Why do we need CC licences?

The CC licences were created in response to an outdated global copyright legal system and to help address the tension between creators’ ability to share digital works globally and copyright regulation.

What is the CC licence scope?

CC licences are appropriate for creators to provide people with permissions governed by copyright from the onset.

They have the basic limitation of controlling what people do with the work the licences; hence, they apply only when the work is within the scope of copyright, which means that they do not apply when copyright doesn’t and when exceptions to copyright law do.

They warrant that there may be other not covered rights at play with the work that restrict how it is used (i.e., patents, trademarks, privacy and publicity rights) that must be managed separately.

Scenarios in which copyright does not apply and CC licences do not either:

Letting someone specifically read your article or watch your video is not regulated by copyright law.

When fair use, fair dealing or other limitation and exception to copyright applies.

When the work is in the public domain.

How do the Creative Commons licences work technically?

What are the elements of the Creative Commons?

What are the six Creative Commons licences?

How to you reference and acknowledge Creative Commons licensed works?

Forward to Fair dealing and the reuse of Creative Commons licensed works

Back to Creative Commons licences

Back to Open 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.

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.