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Copyright

Copyright

All staff and students at the University of Lincoln need to be aware of copyright law and how it impacts their teaching, learning and research. The Library provides guidance to students and academic staff on what can be copied for educational purposes.

 

What is copyright?

Copyright legally protects the original work of authors/creators/publishers; restricting or limiting what can be copied.

In the UK copyright is governed by the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. The Copyright Licensing Agency (CLA) permits Higher Education institutions licenses which provide permission to photocopy and scan from books and journals.

Copyright guidance

Copyright and digitisation guidance

What is protected by copyright?

The Copyright Licensing Agency (CLA) recognises the following as the main categories of works protected in the UK:

  • original literary works such as novels or poems, including tables or lists, web pages and computer programs;
  • original dramatic work such as plays, dance, mime;
  • original musical work, including notes and composition;
  • original artistic work, including paintings, drawings, photographs, sculptures sound recordings, films and broadcasts.

List taken from https://www.cla.co.uk/what-is-copyright. When photocopying, printing and scanning, it is essential you keep within the law and the terms of the University’s licensing agreement.

Copyright guidance for students

Students are able to make a single photocopy of copyright material for their own private study or research however the amount that can be copied or downloaded is limited.

Under the CLA Higher Education Licence you can photocopy/print:

  • up to 10% or one chapter of a book (whichever is greater);
  • up to 10% or one article from a single issue of a journal (whichever is greater);
  • up to 10% or one paper of one set of conference proceedings;
  • up to 10% or one case of one report of judicial proceedings;
  • photographs, illustrations, charts or diagrams where they are included in an extract or article;
  • one short story or one poem or one play of not more than 10 pages in an anthology of short stories, poems or plays.

If identifying the proportion is difficult you will need to estimate a reasonable length.

If you make an electronic copy (scan or save) you should not:

  • alter the work;
  • pass it on;
  • upload it to Blackboard, a blog or any other web server that can be accessed by others;
  • keep multiple copies (save the file in more than one place).

Copyright guidance for academic staff

When it comes to copying for research and private study, academic staff should follow the same guidelines as students.

When preparing teaching material, academic staff need to consider the following:

  • material found on the Internet must not be saved and added to Blackboard or used in your presentation – best practice is to reference the source and provide a web link;
  • check that the source of anything that you would like to link to, to ensure it has been uploaded by the copyright holder or with the holder’s permission;
  • scanned extracts of books or journals need to be requested via the Library (for more information, see Digitisation);
  • copying for the purpose of examinations may be carried out without seeking permission.

For teaching purposes, the CLA licence permits Higher Education institutions to make multiple photocopies from printed material. Some publishers are not members of the scheme so please check the list of excluded categories and works to see whether the material/publisher that you would like to copy from is not listed.

The amount that can be copied from any one publication is limited (this falls in line with the limitations for private study/research):

If you are photocopying, the number of copies should not exceed the number of students.

  • up to 10% or one chapter of a book (whichever is greater);
    • up to 10% or one chapter of a book (whichever is greater);
    • up to 10% or one article from a single issue of a journal (whichever is greater);
    • up to 10% or one paper of one set of conference proceedings;
    • up to 10% or one case of one report of judicial proceedings;
    • photographs, illustrations, charts or diagrams where they are included in an extract or article;
    • one short story or one poem or one play of not more than 10 pages in an anthology of short stories, poems or plays.

Digitisation

The University of Lincoln holds a Copyright Licensing Agency (CLA) Comprehensive Higher Education Licence. This Licence allows the University to create digitised material by photocopying and scanning from printed books, journals and magazines.

If you would like to copy extracts from books and journals for teaching purposes, the University’s CLA Higher Education Comprehensive licence allows your Academic Subject Librarian (nominated under the terms of the licence as a ‘designated person’) to make, on your behalf, an electronic copy which will be:

  • an extract (no more than 10% or one chapter/article, whichever is the greater from a book published in the UK, US and selected European countries);
  • from an original book, journal or magazine owned by the University, OR from a ‘copyright fee paid’ copy purchased by the University Library from the British Library;
  • attached to a copyright notice;
  • made available via the relevant online reading list in our Talis Aspire reading lists for distribution to students via the online reading list on Blackboard.

What can and cannot be digitised?

All the same exclusions that apply to photocopying for teaching also apply to digitisation.

In addition, the CLA Comprehensive Higher Education Licence does not permit the following to be copied:

  • works published outside the UK, US and selected European countries;
  • works specifically and separately excluded from scanning under the Higher Education licence;
  • where an accessible digital equivalent (e.g. an ebook) is already available within the University.

If you are in any doubt as to what you may or may not copy, please contact your Academic Subject Librarian or check the Copyright Licensing Agency.

Contacts for copyright

Contacts

Contact your Academic Subject Librarian for advice on copyright and digisitation of materials for teaching.

Licences

Licences

The University of Lincoln currently holds a range of licences:

  • Copyright Licensing Agency Comprehensive Higher Education Licence
    : http://www.cla.co.uk/
    : Dave Masterson (tel: 01522 88 6433)