Creating Work
Copyright is an automated right that protects those who own the rights of work that is produced. It is conferred at the point of creation, usually to the person who created the work, but this may change if the work is published elsewhere. Copyright is a complex area, and researchers should understand the implications of their decisions for the copyright status of their work.
When an author produces a written output, they automatically own the copyright to that material. This includes the right to be identified as the author of the work and copy, adapt, or lend the work. If others wish to make use of the work, they must contact the author to ask for permission.
This all changes if the work is published. Many publishers require authors to sign a Copyright Transfer Agreement (CTA). This CTA transfers the ownership of the work from the author to the publisher. This means that the publisher then owns the rights to the work (and often earlier versions of the work) and sets out how authors can share and re-use their work. It is important that authors read and understand a CTA and any implications it may have for the funding they may have received.
If an author publishes open access, the copyright is often retained by the author who grants the publisher a licence to publish their work, typically under the form of a Creative Commons licence.
Sharing work
If you have had a manuscript accepted for publication, you may wish to share it with colleagues or an academic social network such as ResearchGate. The permissions will vary by publisher and journal title and will often be different for different versions of content (such as the final published version or the author accepted manuscript) and may also vary depending on the location it is shared. For journals, you can find sharing permissions using JISC’s open policy finder tool.
What is third party copyright?
Third party copyright refers to content included within a published work that belongs to another party. Examples of third-party copyright include images, textual extracts, and artwork. Third party material may appear in a range of published work including journal articles and long-form monographs. If you are planning to use any content in a publication that you have not directly created (or content that you have created which has already been published), it’s important that you investigate its copyright status and acquire necessary permission or license content correctly before including it in your work. It’s also important to set aside time to devise a copyright strategy as part of the publishing process, as the process of identifying and obtaining copyright permissions can be lengthy.
How to identify third-party content
At the start of the research process its important that you identify any material that belongs to a third party.
UKRI provides the below examples:
Text, such as quotations or extracts from a variety of sources like books, articles, poetry, song lyrics, screenplays, websites, blogs, reports, text-based works such as tables, among others.
Visual content, such as photographs, drawings, maps, images, and diagrams.
Musical and dramatic content that is presented in a readable format, such as musical scores and choreographic notation; and
Audio recordings and video content may also be embedded in electronic books.
Third party copyright at the start of the research process:
When you have identified content to investigate, UKRI have listed two questions that should be asked at the start of the research process:
How much third-party content do I plan to include in my publication?
Do I have the time and resources to address copyright for all this material, including obtaining and paying for licences if needed?
The second question involves consideration of:
Content that can be included without clearing rights (including content where the copyright has expired in the public domain)
The licensing of third-party content (such as content licensed with a creative commons license)
Identification of owners of the 'all rights reserved' material.
The menu below discusses each of these in turn:
Content without clearing rights
You may not have to obtain permission to use third-party material. There are four common reasons this may be the case:
1. Content in the public domain
‘Public domain’ has a precise meaning under UK copyright law referring to material formerly protected by copyright. The length of time third party material is subject to copyright varies by the type of material it is. For literary, musical, dramatic, and artistic works copyright generally lasts until 70 years following the author’s death. More information about the length of copyright for different kinds of material can be found here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/copyright-notice-duration-of-copyright-term
Crucially, however, content should not be treated as in the public domain simply because it is in the public sphere. The fact that a work was found on a publicly accessible website or in an image search engine does not mean that it can be reused without copyright restriction. It may have been placed there without the copyright holder’s permission.
2. Content for which you are not copying a substantial part of the source work.
Virtually all published works include quotations from other sources. Including short quotations as part of the main body of the text is generally permitted if it does not comprise a substantial part of the source work.
If it does contain a substantial part of the work, its use may still be permitted as part of a copyright exception, such as fair dealing for the purpose of criticism, review, or quotation (see below).
3. Content distributed under a form of license that permits your intended use
If you are planning to use third party material that already has an open license applied to it (such as a creative commons license) you should be able to use the content under the terms that the license permits. For creative commons licenses, you must adhere to the terms in the license. UKRI provides the below examples:
• If content is offered under a CC BY-SA (share alike) licence, then along with attribution, you must offer the adapted third-party material under the same version CC BY-SA licence, because of the requirement that downstream works are ‘shared alike’.
• If content is offered under any of the CC BY-ND (no-derivatives) licences, you may not share ‘adapted material’, without seeking permission from the copyright holder.
• If content is offered under any of the CC BY-NC (non-commercial) licences, you may not use the material for commercial purposes, without seeking permission from the copyright holder.
4. Using a copyright exception
The Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 permits certain exceptions which allow the use of third-party material without requesting permission from the copyright owner. These exceptions are subject to legal scrutiny, and there is always a risk when deciding to use an exception. Always seek advice before deciding to use an exception.
The exception most relevant to academic publishing is known as ‘fair dealing’. UKRI provides the following information on fair dealing:
“There is no statutory definition of fair dealing and an element of risk assessment in deciding whether to use a copyright exception. Publishers have different approaches regarding their use in scholarly publications. As such, you should work closely with your publisher in relation to its approach. Factors that can inform your and your publisher’s decision as to whether inclusion of third-party material is fair dealing will depend on:
• The amount and importance of what was copied; shorter reproductions are more likely to be considered fair dealing than longer ones.
• Whether your work substitutes for the source work; this consideration asks whether your use conflicts with a ‘normal exploitation’ of the source work.
• Your motives for including the content; is there some sort of intellectual analysis or point being made or is inclusion merely decorative?
• Whether it was necessary to use the source work to achieve your purpose.”
Content with clearing rights
If none of the above considerations apply to the third-party material, you will have to contact the copyright holder to obtain permission. To obtain permission, you will need to ask permission to use the content and understand the terms under which access has been granted.
The most common type of permission granted is 'all rights reserved'. This normally means that the material can be included in the publication, but no further use of the material can be made. This means that the third-party material may be licensed differently to the work as a whole. If an open access monograph is licensed under a CC-BY license, for example, it may contain images that are “all rights reserved”, which means the CC-BY license does not apply to the images. Anyone who wishes to reuse those images must apply separately to the copyright holder.
You don’t have to ask for the same license that you wish to apply to the whole work, and your work can still be complaint with the UKRI open access policy if your third-party copyright material is 'all rights reserved'. More information can be found in UKRI's Managing third-party copyright for research publications
Creating a copyright strategy with rights holders
Several considerations should be taken into account when asking permission to use third-party content.
The copyright holder will not necessarily be the author; it may be the publisher or there may even be several parties involved. Copyright ownership can often be found in the front of books, or the captions found next to images. Look out for small print underneath the source material.
If you pay a fee for third-party content, it doesn’t necessarily give you the right to use it in your work; you may still need to contact the copyright holder.
Permissions granted will also vary depending on the type of publication. You will need to make it clear whether the publication is print, electronic, or both and whether it will be disseminated internationally. The copyright holder may limit the license depending on the number of copies produced or the number of times it was downloaded.
An example of a letter to a copyright holder requesting to use third-party content can be found in Annex B of UKRI’s Managing third-party copyright for research publications.
If you cannot gain permission from the copyright holder
If you cannot gain permission from the copyright holder:
• Replace the content with an equally suitable alternative.
• Remove the content.
• Link to the content. If you do this, you may need to apply for permission and you will need to ensure that the content you are linking to is copyright cleared.
Some of the content on the page is taken directly from UKRI's 'Managing third-party copyright for research publications' which is licensed under a CC-BY license
Creative Commons (CC) refers to a suite of seven 'off the shelf' copyright licences that any author or copyright owner can apply to their work.
Each CC licence represents a set of terms and conditions that state how other people can use and build upon published work. Copyright holders simply assert the license the wish to use and include a link somewhere in their work.
Many journal articles are published under Creative Commons licences, although most publishers will stipulate which ones you are permitted to choose.
Using a Creative Commons licence is a great way to promote and share your work, ensuring your research makes maximum impact. The licences are also important for external policy compliance; the UKRI Open Access Policy requires research funded by UK Research Councils to use a CC-BY licence.
Although Creative Commons (CC) licences should be viewed positively, you may need to think about their application if your work has commercial potential, as all licences let users read your content free of charge. Once granted, a CC licence cannot be withdrawn from someone using your work under the licence.
A summary of the CC licences, from Creative Commons:
CC0 enables scientists, educators, artists and other creators and owners of copyright- or database-protected content to waive those interests in their works and thereby place them as completely as possible in the public domain, so that others may freely build upon, enhance and reuse the works for any purposes without restriction under copyright or database law.
In contrast to CC’s licenses that allow copyright holders to choose from a range of permissions while retaining their copyright, CC0 empowers yet another choice altogether – the choice to opt out of copyright and database protection, and the exclusive rights automatically granted to creators – the “no rights reserved” alternative to our licenses.
You are free to:
The licensor cannot revoke these freedoms as long as you follow the license terms.
- Share — copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format for any purpose, even commercially.
- Adapt — remix, transform, and build upon the material for any purpose, even commercially.
Under the following terms:
- Attribution — You must give appropriate credit , provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made . You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use.
- No additional restrictions — You may not apply legal terms or technological measures that legally restrict others from doing anything the license permits.
You are free to:
- Share — copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format for any purpose, even commercially.
- Adapt — remix, transform, and build upon the material for any purpose, even commercially.
The licensor cannot revoke these freedoms as long as you follow the license terms.
Under the following terms:
- Attribution — You must give appropriate credit , provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made . You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use.
- ShareAlike — If you remix, transform, or build upon the material, you must distribute your contributions under the same license as the original.
- No additional restrictions — You may not apply legal terms or technological measures that legally restrict others from doing anything the license permits.
You are free to:
- Share — copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format for any purpose, even commercially.
The licensor cannot revoke these freedoms as long as you follow the license terms.
Under the following terms:
- Attribution — You must give appropriate credit , provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made . You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use.
- NoDerivatives — If you remix, transform, or build upon the material, you may not distribute the modified material.
- No additional restrictions — You may not apply legal terms or technological measures that legally restrict others from doing anything the license permits.
