FAQs on copyright

Why do I need to know about copyright?

Copyright affects everyone who is reproducing material from published or unpublished material for any reason.

If you are a student, you need to be aware of the limits on what you can photocopy, scan, include in assessed work, save to your network filespace or other portable storage (e.g.memory stick), or print out from a PC.

If you are a member of staff, you need to also be aware of the limits on multiple copying for the students in your class, of what can be scanned/digitised for use in online teaching materials, and your own copyright.

If you have a valid Library ticket or are a day visitor, you need to be aware of the limits on what you can photocopy, scan, save to portable storage, etc.

The University and Library regulations require that you abide by copyright legislation and the terms of any licences that we have signed.

What is and what is not protected by copyright?

Any work is protected by copyright which is written or recorded in any form, and which is original.

This includes:

• Literary works (including books and journal articles, poems and song lyrics, tables, compilations, and computer programs, letters and memos, e-mail and web pages, diaries, letters, shopping lists, whether published or unpublished)
• Dramatic works (including plays, works of dance and mime, musical theatre, and opera librettos)
• Crown Copyright
• Parliamentary Copyright (House of Commons or House of Lords)
• Musical works (scores)
• Artistic works (including sketches, paintings, drawings, diagrams, maps, engravings, photographs, sculpture, and jewellery)
• Computer generated works
• Databases (collections of data which are arranged in a systematic or methodical way)
• Sound recordings
• Films
• Broadcasts (TV and radio)
• Typography of published editions (how the text is laid out on the page)

How long does material stay in copyright?

Generally, for published material (literary, dramatic, musical and artistic), work remains in copyright until 70 years after the death of the author/creator.

This includes material published in EU countries or the USA (work published in certain other countries may be protected for a shorter period of 50 years after the death of the author).

However, there are some exceptions to the rule:

• Crown Copyright material and Parliamentary Copyright material: 50 years from the end of the year of first publication
• Databases: as well as the full term of copyright in the material included, there is a 15 year database right - this begins from each time the database is updated
• Sound recordings: 50 years from first publication (so recordings from before the end of 1958 are in the public domain from the end of 2008)
• Films: 70 years from the death of whoever is last to survive of director, screenwriter, composer
• Broadcasts: 50 years from when broadcast first made
• Typography of published editions: 25 years from first publication
• Unpublished material: all currently in copyright - pre-1989 material in copyright until 2039; post-1989 material until 70 years after year of creation

Remember there may be multiple authors/creators of any one work.

How much may I photocopy from books and journals?

Please refer to the limits set out in the Library's Fair dealing and moral rights web page if you are photocopying for your own private study or non-commercial research.

Generally no more than 5% of a book or one article from any one journal issue. This also applies to saving/printing from e-books and e-journals.

For multiple copies, please see the Copying for teaching section below.

If the work is out of copyright, may I then copy it freely?

Not if the edition you've got in hand was published in the last 25 years: the publisher has copyright in the typography and layout.

May I reproduce this material for my thesis / dissertation / project / assessed essay?

Yes - the law states that copyright is 'not infringed by anything done for the purposes of an examination by way of setting the questions' (CDPA 1988 32(3)).

It is generally accepted that writing a thesis or dissertation, or completing work for assessment, is included in this exemption.

You may also include copyrighted material in a web site which counts as a piece of assessed course work - but only if it is not made available to anyone other than the assessor/examiner (e.g. delivered on CD-ROM or memory stick).

If you need multiple copies of a music score for performance purposes, even if that performance is being assessed, you must purchase or hire as many copies of the score as you need.

If you wish to copy from a thesis, you should be aware that the British Library does not allow any copying from theses it lends through document supply.

You can copy from any text which has a note "may be freely copied for educational use" but remember to acknowledge the source of the information.

I own this material, so why can't copy as much as I want of it?

You have bought a book or journal, but that does not give you the right to make any further copies from it. If it is still protected by copyright, someone else owns the 'Copyright', which is the right to make, or to allow others to make, copies.

You can only make copies which are allowed by the law as 'fair dealing for non-commercial research or private study' or under other provisions, or are allowed under any relevant licence, or for which you have permission from the rights-owner.

This also applies to the copying of commercial videos and sound recordings (for example downloading music from the internet onto CD, or converting LP records onto CD, or copying video recordings onto DVD).

I wrote this article / chapter / book, so why can't I copy as much as I want of it?

What did you sign when you agreed to publication? In many cases you will have signed away your ownership of the copyright to the publisher - especially true for journal articles.

The publisher is then the rights-owner who can give, or charge for, permission to make copies beyond what is allowed under law or licence.

What are the rules on photocopying done by Library staff (e.g. Special Collections material, remote readers)?

If photocopying is done by Library staff, then:

• the requester must sign a declaration that they have not already been supplied with a copy of the work by any librarian, and that the copy is for private study or non-commercial research
• the amount copied must fall into the limits for Fair dealing
• the copy must not be 'related to any similar requirement of another person': students on the same course are counted as having 'related' requirements
• the Library must be paid for the copy