During your studies you will want to copy or download third-party materials such as book chapters, journal articles and images. This material is likely to be covered by UK copyright law, which limits the amount of material that you can legally copy. New technologies also facilitate the copying and sharing of content online, making copyright infringement commonplace. Copyright infringement can lead to serious consequences for the individual and the university.
Fortunately, there are some exceptions under the current law that allow you to make single copies of small amounts of a copyright work for the purposes of non-commercial research and private study under what is known as 'fair dealing'. Fair dealing requires a judgment to be made by whoever is carrying out the copying. Every case is different but generally speaking, the following criteria would need to be met to be considered 'fair':
The Copyright basics page alongside the interactive resource below, will give you a basic introduction to copyright and how it affects you as a student.
Use the 'forward' and 'back' arrows to navigate your way through the resource. At the end there are some quiz questions to test your understanding.
You may find it helpful to refer to the glossary of copyright terms.
If in doubt seek advice from copyright@cumbria.ac.uk.
Please explore the expandable sections below to find out more.
The law allows you to include copied material for your assessed work, even if you need to provide more than one copy of your work for your tutors. However, you must always include appropriate acknowledgement and referencing.
The legal permission to copy for assessed work does not extend to making your work publicly available in any way, such as via publication, display or exhibition. You must obtain written permission from the rights holder before you make the work available to the public.
All disabled people are now covered by the legislation where their impairment affects their ability to study or work on an equal basis as someone without impairment.
All copyright work can now be altered to an appropriate format, as long as suitable accessible copies are not available for purchase.
This may include:
Further advice is available from the Assistive Technology web page.
Most electronic resources (databases, ejournals, ebooks) are made available through subscriptions handled by the Library. Access to University of Cumbria staff and students is allowed under the terms of licences drawn up by the supplier. All members of the University of Cumbria are responsible for ensuring that they comply with licences.
If you are in any doubt at all you must check the specific licence for any given resource.
As a general rule:
We live in a world where anybody with a computer or mobile device can be a creator, publisher and aggregator of content; this presents new challenges for copyright. The casual nature of social media can promote a relaxed attitude to rights issues. However, the laws regarding copyright and other intellectual property rights still apply.
When using any social network sites such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, be aware of the following points.
You may use the work of others if:
1. Copyright has expired.
2. You have the written permission of the rights owner.
3. Your use of the work is permitted by an exception as defined under the 1988 Copyright Designs and Patents Act (UK).
4. Your use of the work is covered under a licence. It is your responsibility to find and understand licence terms.
To use copyright materials for commercial purposes the permission of the creator or rights owner must be sought and agreement in writing obtained. Users can expect to pay a fee determined by the rights holder.
Copyright infringement is illegal. Seek advice if you are unsure: copyright@cumbria.ac.uk.
If you need to obtain permission to reuse materials then this should be sought as soon as possible. You should seek written (this can be in an email) explicit permission.
Copyright owners can be difficult to trace and slow to respond to requests. You should be prepared to chase them up and try alternative methods of contacting copyright owners if necessary.
It is helpful if your initial request gives as much detail as possible regarding the reuse. You should include a description of how you wish to reuse the material and why it is important for your course.
You can adapt this Copyright permissions Request Template to suit your needs.
You should always maintain a complete record of any requests sent and responses until such time as the material is no longer required. If a copyright owner does not respond it is risky to assume that they will not object to your proposed reuse of their work.
Guidance on locating a copyright owner is available at the Intellectual Property Office’s website www.ipo.gov.uk, or see the 'Obtaining permission to use copyright material' factsheet from the UK Copyright Service, or contact copyright@cumbria.ac.uk for advice.
Where one or more of the rights holders is either unknown or cannot be found the copyright work is known as an orphan work. As it is not normally possible to reproduce the work if the rights holder cannot be found the UK Government has introduced a scheme to licence orphan works in the UK.
Whether you can copy an image depends upon how you will use the image.
Non-commercial research or private study: provided your use does not harm the economic interests of the copyright holder and the amount copied is reasonable you can make one copy. You must include an attribution statement (reference) and must not share the copy with others.
Examination or Formal Assessment: use is permitted. You must include an attribution statement (reference).
Criticism, Review or Quotation and Parody, Caricature and Pastiche: for both forms of use provided your use does not harm the economic interests of the copyright holder and the amount copied is reasonable you can include a copy in your work. You must include an attribution statement (reference).
Reporting Current Events: use of a photograph without the copyright holder's permission is not allowed.
Illustration for Learning: you can include an image in a presentation provided your use does not harm the economic interests of the copyright holder and the amount copied is reasonable. You must include an attribution statement (reference).
Images found on the web are more than likely not copyright free. Google Images advanced search option does allow users to tailor searches to limit the ‘types' of images that are returned including ‘labelled for reuse’. However, it is possible that people who have assigned a filter option to a particular image or set of images are not necessarily the owners of copyright.
A large number of images are also made available online using Creative Commons licences which allows the owner of a copyrighted image to specify how others might use their image.
Below is a list of sites (in alphabetical order) where you can find images that you can freely use for educational purposes. Although many images on these sites are free to use, normally you need to credit the creator in the way they specify - always check how the images have been licenced for re-use.
How much can I copy?
There is no exact percentage of the 'limited' amount you can copy under fair dealing exceptions such as non-commercial research and private study, however below is some guidance on what would be considered fair:
Is it ok to photograph a chapter of a book on my smartphone or iPad as opposed to photocopying?
Yes, as long as it is for your own non-commercial research or private study. There are no restrictions on changing the format of the copyright work provided the copying is fair. You must not make a copy and then send to other individuals.
Does copyright apply to work I have created?
Yes. Your essays, emails, exam scripts, dissertations and other original material you create in the form of projects or assignments all constitute copyright material. You are the rights holder, but the University requires you to submit copies for the purpose of marking and assessment, and may require you to deposit copies of material in a departmental collection or the University Library.
Do I own the copyright in my coursework?
Yes. The University’s IP policy states that students own their own IP (this includes copyright) unless the University has contracted with an outside body (eg an industrial sponsor) where the outside body has a claim on the IP and the student is required to assign the IP to the University.
The policy also states that students grant the University a continuing licence to use students’ work created in the course of their studies with the University for the administrative, promotional, educational and teaching purposes of the University.
Can I copy images I find on the web?
Maybe, remember unless otherwise stated, ALL material on the internet is protected by copyright; this includes images.
However, it may be possible to copy images without infringing copyright if they are being used for one of the following safe purposes:
Where can I find free images to use in my work?
There are loads of free image sites you can use. Most are free to use for non-commercial purposes, so you just need to attribute the image correctly. We provide a comprehensive list of free images sites on the Finding free-to-use images page.
Can I use third-party materials within my dissertation or thesis?
Yes, but only if the use is fair. The use must be limited to what is necessary for the purpose of your work, and it must not negatively impact on the market for the original work. This may mean limiting copying to shorter extracts of a work. For further advice on this contact copyright@cumbria.ac.uk
How should I go about getting permission from a rights holder to use their material?
If you know who to contact to request permission, you can adapt this permission request form to suit your needs. Contact copyright@cumbria.ac.uk if you need any advice on seeking permission.
Copyright guidance for teaching staff is available on StaffHub:
Copyright guidance for research is available on the Copyright and research page
The information contained within these pages is intended as a general guideline, and an interpretation of current copyright issues. It is not intended and should not be construed as legal advice.
University of Cumbria Library Services gratefully acknowledge the work of Neil Sprunt, University of Manchester, whose copyright guidance is made available for reuse under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 4.0 International licence.
