Copyright is a type of ‘intellectual property right’ that gives the authors of original, creative works the right to decide who is allowed to copy and share their work and how.There are many types of work which qualify for copyright protection in the UK, for example books, journals, personal correspondence, software, music, art works, diagrams, databases audio recordings, films and broadcasts.
Copyright is a type of ‘intellectual property right’ that gives the authors of original, creative works the right to decide who is allowed to copy and share their work and how.There are many types of work which qualify for copyright protection in the UK, for example books, journals, personal correspondence, software, music, art works, diagrams, databases audio recordings, films and broadcasts.
The first owner of copyright is usually the author or the producer of the work, although if you create something as part of your job your employer will typically own the copyright.The exception to this at Southampton is if you create what are called “scholarly works” such as essays, journal articles or books. If you create a scholarly work it is likely that you will own the copyright in it.Copyright ownership can also be assigned to other people or organisations.
Copyright law gives the copyright owner certain "exclusive rights". This means that:
The following activities are all defined in copyright law as “restricted acts” which only the copyright owner or their representative has the right to authorise:
If you're doing any of the above with a copyright work, you need to make sure that you either have a licence or that a copyright exception applies. Click here for copyright exceptions.
If you own the copyright in a work you'll probably want others to use it according to certain conditions. The permissions you give to others will come in the form of a copyright licence. Similarly, if you want to make use of copyright material created by others you will find that much of it comes with licences attached.
The terms of use you accept when you access digital resources such as websites, social media services, databases and electronic library resources all contain copyright licensing terms.
Other types of "collective licence" are available to staff and students, which cover entire classes of copyright work.For example, the University has signed the Copyright Licensing Agency (CLA) Higher Education licence and this covers the majority of published books and journals. This licence allows us to copy up to 10% or a chapter/article from a qualifying book or journal, whichever is the greater.
Creative Commons licences are also widely used in research and education. These licences are designed to promote sharing of copyright material with as few barriers to use and reuse as possible. They allow use of the copyright works without payment and may also allow others to create new works based on the original work.
The most commonly encountered licences at the University are summarised below:
Type of licence |
What's covered |
Copies of up to one chapter/article of 10% (whichever is the greater) from books, journals and magazines |
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Recordings from UK TV and radio broadcasts (provided by BoB - On Demand) |
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Links and copies of articles from newspapers |
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Public performance of musical works |
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Public screenings of feature films not linked to educational activity |
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Allows open sharing of copyright work as decided by the copyright owner who may restrict commercial use or adaptations, or require any adaptations to be licensed on the same terms |
|
Allows you to access e-books, journals and other databases for your non-commercial study or research
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Although licences can provide you with explicit permission to use copyright works in certain ways, there are times when licences are unavailable or inappropriate. For example, if you're quoting extracts from a large number of different works in a piece of academic work, it may be impossible to get permission from every copyright holder. The law therefore includes "exceptions" to copyright which allow use of copyright works without the copyright holder's permission in certain contexts. These are called "permitted acts" in the legislation, which is the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 (CDPA) and are often based on the principle that the use is covered by fair dealing”.
Name of exception |
Purpose |
Activities covered |
CDPA section |
Research or private study |
Allows students and researchers to make copies of copyright works for non-commercial research or private study. |
Making personal copies of extracts from books and journals Copying images to use as stimulus in research study |
|
Quotation |
Allows anyone to reproduce copyright works for the purpose of quotation where it is fair |
Includes presenting extracts from books, journals and musical works to students Potential use of whole works where the use is fair. For example, review of a poem. |
|
Accessible copying |
Allows individuals or institutions to provide equal access to copyright works for users with any type disability |
Digitising print material Format shifting text to audio Creating subtitles for videos |
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Illustration for instruction |
Allows teachers or students to use copyright work in teaching or study where the use is fair |
Including text, images, music or video in teaching slides and lecture recordings Adding content to examination papers |
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Educational performance |
Allows any copyright work that can be performed, played or shown in an educational setting (where there is no charge to view) to be performed played or shown |
Screening a film in a lecture, playing musical sound recordings in class, performance of a play in class (i.e. not for an external audience) |
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Recording of broadcasts |
Allows educational establishment to record TV and radio broadcasts and make them available to students |
Underpins the University’s use of BoB Online TV streaming service |
|
Making multiple copies |
Allows educational institutions to copy up to 5% of a copyright work and supply multiple copies to students |
Copying of book extracts not covered by the CLA licence Copying up to 5% of a film or sound recording and making it available to students on Moodle
|
Many copyright exceptions involve a test of "fair dealing". This means you need to think about whether your use of someone else’s work is fair, for example:
Deciding on whether something is fair will always need to be done on a case-by-case basis - we can help. Please email us at libenqs@soton.ac.uk
Because many elements of copyright law are subjective, particularly whether an activity is "fair", you may need to take a risk management approach.
This means you might use a copyright work even if you can't be 100% sure that the activity is non-infringing. To assess copyright risk you'll need to consider the following:
If you have any questions about copyright, email libenqs@soton.ac.uk
Teaching and learning would be impossible at the University of Southampton without the use of copyright protected material. This page helps you understand how to use copyright material legally in your teaching.
When you share copyright material such as readings, videos and sound recordings with students this material needs to be covered by:
In many cases the University pays for licences, which allow educational use. But there will also be times when you need to rely on exceptions.
Where there is no licence or exception it's possible that you or the University may be liable for copyright infringement. The risk of infringement when providing teaching resources is usually low, but can lead to financial or reputational damage. The information on this page will help you manage this risk and demonstrate good practice in use of copyright material.
We have a number of licences that enable use of teaching materials.
Our digital library resources all come with licences that allow you and your students to access content via your University account.
We have collective copyright licences, which allow copying and sharing of certain types of copyright work:
Creative Commons licences are becoming increasingly important in teaching as a way of creating and sharing educational resources.
You can use Creative Commons licenced works in your teaching without having to pay or ask for permission. There are different types of Creative Commons licence, so make sure you're aware of the restrictions the copyright owner has applied, such as the ‘NoDerivatives’ option, which prevents you from making an adaptation of the work.
Find free Creative Commons licensed educational resources.
There may be cases where you want to use a copyright work in your teaching that isn't covered by a licence. You'll then need to:
Copyright exceptions allow you to include copyright material in your teaching without the permission of the copyright holder. To rely on copyright exceptions you must abide by the concept of fair dealing. This means you must:
There are a number of copyright exceptions in the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, which relate to teaching. The most relevant to you as a tutor are:
The sections below show how you can rely on licences and exceptions to address copyright in relation to the most common types of teaching activity.
Under copyright law you can share the same types of content with your students online that you're allowed to present in a lecture theatre, as long as the use is:
As you create PowerPoint slides or equivalent teaching presentations, make sure you properly credit any images, text or musical quotations. You need to do this regardless of whether you're relying on a licence or on a copyright exception.
When adding electronic content to a reading list, link to the original digital resource. Don't download and re-upload it to Blackboard, as many e-resource licences don't allow this.
If you want to share extracts from published print books and journals they can be requested via the Talis reading list system and linked to Blackboard modules for your students to access. The CLA licence fees paid by the University can then be distributed to the author and publisher.
If the content you want to share is covered by a Creative Commons licence you can upload it to Blackboard.
But if you're creating a new copyright work based on existing Creative Commons works, you need to consider whether this is a derivative work and therefore if the licence restricts this.
Some licences restrict commercial use, which teaching is not. This means you can share material marked for "non-commercial" use in most teaching contexts.
If you or your students have a disability, you or they may make adaptations to copyright works to make them accessible. We provide a range of services to support access to accessible formats, which can be found at https://library.soton.ac.uk/Accessibility-Fire-Safety
The same principles that apply to Blackboard also apply to Panopto.
You can:
You should always provide a credit for any content you include, unless this is impossible or impractical.
When you set up Panopto to record your lectures, it should be in accordance with the University’s Intellectual Property Regulations (IPR). You will be asked to enter into an agreement with the University, which grants it rights over various copyright works and related rights existing in the recordings, which are not covered by the University’s IPR.
You can find further information on using Panopto.
You can show films or play recorded audio to students without needing a licence from the copyright owner in:
This is because there's a specific copyright exception, which covers the performing, playing or showing work the course of the activities of an educational establishment.
You may perform or get others to perform musical, literary or dramatic works in front of an audience without a licence as long as these are closed sessions for your students. If the audience includes other people, such as family, friends or members of the public, you may need a licence.
Many teachers are happy to share their learning resources with others under open licences.
Open Educational Resources (OERs) are typically released with Creative Commons licences that allow the copyright owner to authorise others to share their works free of charge. If the copyright owner wants to, they can give others the right to adapt and even commercialise their work, but sometimes they choose to restrict these permissions. The OER Commons is a digital library of open educational resources.
The creation and dissemination of copyright content at the University of Southampton is subject to our Intellectual Property Regulations.
If you have any questions about copyright, email libenqs@soton.ac.uk
This information in no way substitutes for formal legal advice. If you are in any doubt or require further information we recommend you consult with Legal Services.
This work, "Copyright", is a derivative of "Copyright what you need to know" by the University of Kent, used under CC BY 2.0, and it is using copyrighted images/videos. "Copyright" is licensed under CC BY 2.0 by the University of Southampton. Please see below separate license for images/videos used. All images/videos used and edited with permission.
Image from 01:08 video ‘Copyright & Creativity’ by copyrightuser.org https://www.copyrightuser.org/create/creative-process/copyright-and-creativity/ released under CC-BY 3.0 license.
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Image from 02:28 video ‘Copyright & Creativity’ by copyrightuser.org https://www.copyrightuser.org/create/creative-process/copyright-and-creativity/ released under CC-BY 3.0 license.
Image by copyrightuser.org https://www.copyrightuser.org/educate/enjoy/myth-reality-cards/released under CC-BY 3.0 license.
Video ‘Copyright & Creativity’ by copyrightuser.org https://www.copyrightuser.org/create/creative-process/copyright-and-creativity/ released under CC-BY 3.0 license.
Image © istockphoto-509366330
Image © iStock-113806850
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Image from 00:50 video ‘Copyright & Creativity’ by copyrightuser.org https://www.copyrightuser.org/create/creative-process/copyright-and-creativity/ released under CC-BY 3.0 license.