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What is Copyright

Copyright is an intellectual property right which protects the owners of original works. These works include written and recorded artistic works such as books, paintings, films, journals, photographs, sound recordings and broadcasts.

Copyright is designed to allow creators to gain financial rewards for their efforts, thus encouraging creativity in the future.

Copyright is granted automatically to anything that is written, published, recorded, produced or performed in any form for a specified time period. Copyright covers both printed and electronic material. 

In the UK copyright law is governed by the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, as amended. For more information view The Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1998 

Please bear in mind that the terms and conditions of the Higher Education Licence differ from the Further Education Licence.

For further clarification on any CLA issue, please contact either your local college librarian, or the UHI CLA HE Licence Coordinator.

What Can I Copy

You can copy the text and images from most U.K. printed books and digital publications, and also many from overseas.

The CLA has a very useful Check Permissions tool on its website.

Remember UHI must own a copy of the work that you are copying. You can check the UHI Library Catalogue here

If we do not have an institutional copy, it may be possible to buy the book to enable you to use a compliant copy. Please contact cla@uhi.ac.uk

The work is owned by the University and the amount used falls into one of the following:

• A whole article from a magazine/journal issue

• A short story, poem or play (not exceeding 10 pages in length) from an anthology

• A whole chapter from a book whole scene from a play

• A whole paper from a set of conference proceedings

• A whole report of a single case from a volume of judicial proceedings 

OR

5% of the whole publication. Whichever is greater.

The work is owned by the University and the amount used falls into one of the following:

• A whole article from a magazine/journal issue

• A short story, poem or play (not exceeding 10 pages in length) from an anthology

• A whole chapter from a book whole scene from a play

• A whole paper from a set of conference proceedings

• A whole report of a single case from a volume of judicial proceedings 

OR

10% of the whole publication. Whichever is greater.

 

There are some published works that the CLA licence does not cover. These include:

  • newspapers
  • printed music (including the words)
  • maps and charts
  • workbooks, workcards or assignment sheets 

In addition to these are works which are directly excluded by the author

The CLA provide a list of these works, which can be accessed here

How Long Does Copyright Last?

Includes:

Books, letters, journal articles, photos, pictures, images, graphs and tables

Lasts for:Image of packed bookshelves

70 years after death of author.

 

 

 

"Wall of Books" by benuski is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0

Includes:

Feature films, animated films, home movies.

Lasts for:

70 years after the end of the year in which the last of the principal director, author of dialogue, composer of music or author of screenplay dies.

 

Includes:

TV programmes, online seminars as aired and podcasts

Lasts for:

50 years from the end of the year in which the broadcast was made.

Includes:

Songs, performances, pieces of music, speeches and any recorded sounds.

Lasts for:

70 years from the end of the year in which the recording was made

What is Fair Dealing?

Fair dealing” is an exception that allows limited use of copyrighted materials without permission for the purposes including:

  • Research and private study (non-commercial purposes)
  • Quotation
  • Criticism or review
  • Reporting current events

The extract can only be used for:

  • A limited audience (not published on the open web)
  • A limited time (the duration of the module)
  • If it has no impact on the rights-holder's market. If you are using more than a “quote sized amount” ask the library to buy a copy and add the extract to the DCS.

Remember the extract must not:

  • Affect the market for the original work and cause the owner to lose revenue.
  • Be more than the necessary amount needed to illustrate a point.
  • Must not be merely decorative (should be relevant to the topic under discussion)

Please note: In the UK, fair dealing is more restrictive than in the USA, so care should be taken when following copyright advice on websites or publications. Fair dealing is not justification for uploading large sections of content to the VLE or distributing to your students via email etc.