Copyright is an intellectual property right which gives protection to the owner of the rights to an original work. This means that individuals who want to reproduce the original work of others may need to seek permission to do so.
Copyright automatically exists when original expressions of ideas are recorded.
Copyright covers the following types of work:
The purpose of copyright is to enable creators to gain both recognition and potentially economic reward for their efforts, thus encouraging future creativity and the development of new material which ultimately benefits us all. Copyright material is usually the result of creative skill, significant labour and/or investment; without protection it would often be very easy for others to exploit such material without paying the creator.
The creator of a work usually owns the copyright of that work. However, like any form of property, copyright can be bought, sold, inherited or leased.
In the case of a book, the author will usually be the rights holder, though s/he may grant an exclusive licence to the publisher to publish the book. Alternatively, the author may sell (assign) their copyright to the publisher. This means that some or all of the economic rights may subsequently belong to someone other than the first owner.
In contrast, the moral rights accorded to film directors and the authors of literary, dramatic, musical and artistic works remain with the author or director or pass to his or her heirs on death.
Copyright law contains a number of exceptions; these exceptions allow limited use of copyright material in certain circumstances without the need to gain the permission of the rights holder.
Certain exceptions only apply when the use of the work falls under ‘fair dealing’ guidelines. Fair dealing requires a judgment to be made by whoever is carrying out the copying. Every case is different but generally speaking, if the use would not affect sales of the work and if the amount of the work copied is deemed reasonable and appropriate, then that use may be considered as fair.
Below is a list of the most relevant exceptions affecting teaching and research.
Researchers and students are allowed to copy limited extracts of works for non-commercial research and private study. This includes text, images, sound and video recordings. The amount is limited by fair dealing and must be sufficiently acknowledged/attributed.
This fair dealing exception permits the use of a work for the purpose of criticism and review provided that the work has been made available to the public.
In order for the exception to apply the copying of the work must be truly connected with review and criticism and not purely for illustrative or enhancement purposes.
A provision allowing use of quotations from copyright works for illustrative purposes is integrated into the existing criticism and review exception. This makes it easier to use extracts from copyright works in teaching and learning, Blackboard and other VLEs, course and distance learning materials and commercial publications etc.
Accessible copies of a copyright work can be made for a disabled person if it is for private use and the work being copied is inaccessible to them without adaptation. See the further information page for more details.
This means that copyright in the work is not infringed by an individual teacher or a student as long as they are copying the work to give or receive instruction (or when preparing to give or receive instruction), and the copying is used to illustrate a point about the subject being taught.. This includes material for examination purposes. The exception covers all works, including images, music and video as well as text-based material. The exception only applies if the copying is for non-commercial purposes, is properly attributed/acknowledged and the use is fair (see fair dealing).
Copyright law permits the recording of broadcasts by educational establishments for educational purposes of that establishment, provided that the recording is accompanied by sufficient acknowledgement (unless this would be impossible). This exception enables institutions to provide staff and students off-campus access to recordings of broadcasts.
However, this exception only applies where the broadcast is not covered by a licence the institution should have known about, and the majority of broadcasts the University records are already covered by our Educational Recording Agency (ERA) licence. This licence permits the recording of broadcasts for non-commercial educational purposes.
This exception enables UK researchers to copy a work in order to analyse it using text and data mining technologies. The exception applies where the analysis is for the purpose of non-commercial research. When using this exception, you must already have lawful access to the particular copyright work; for example, where a subscription to a journal is required to access a work then this will still be necessary.
A librarian can copy a reasonable proportion of a published work for staff or students as long as the user provides a copyright declaration form confirming the use is purely non-commercial. Whole or part of unpublished works can be copied under similar restrictions, except where this has been prohibited by the rights holder.
Copyright law allows libraries to make and supply a copy of a published work to another library where permission cannot reasonably be obtained. It also allows an institution to make replacement or preservation copies of a work which is part of its permanent collection provided it is not reasonably practicable to purchase a copy.
In addition, educational establishments may make works available via dedicated terminals on the premises as long as the work, or a copy, has been lawfully acquired, is made available for research and private study only and is communicated in compliance with any relevant licence.
This new fair dealing exception has been introduced to allow use of copyright work for the purposes of caricature, parody and pastiche. Students and academics might find uses for this, eg in creating and publishing user-generated content in some disciplines.
Copyright generally exists for a period of 70 years following the death of the work’s author. If the work has several authors, the period of protection will last for 70 years following the death of the last surviving author.
Below are some other exceptions and clarifications to the 70 year rule.
In certain circumstances, some works may be used if that use is considered to be 'fair dealing'. There is no strict definition of what this means but it has been interpreted by the courts on a number of occasions by looking at the economic impact of the use on the rights holder. Where the economic impact is not significant, the use may count as fair dealing.
Where two or more people have created a single work protected by copyright and the contribution of each author is not distinct from that of the other(s), those people are generally joint authors and therefore joint first owners of copyright. For example, a computer program created by a team of programmers.
Where individual contributions are distinct or separate, each person would be the author of the part they created. For example, where the music of a song is written by one individual and the lyrics by another, each author owns the copyright of the part work they created. This means that it would only be necessary to obtain the consent of the lyricist to use the lyrics without the music. The permission of both authors will be required if the song (that is, the music and lyrics together) is to be recorded or performed.
As an author normally you own the copyright in the material you have created. However, on some occasions in which the material has been created by an employee in the course of their employment, the employer is the first owner of copyright in the work unless there is an agreement to the contrary.
In most situations, the photographer owns the copyright of their photographs. This alters if the photographer is an employee and has taken photographs as part of their normal duties; in this situation the employer would usually be the rights holder.
Yes, as long as they are being used for one of the following safe purposes:
It is essential to give a full acknowledgement or attribution of the source of any material used. Certain images, such as tables and figures from books and journal articles may also be covered by the terms of the University's CLA licence.
Alternatively, many copyright-free images are available online; see Finding free stuff for a list of sources of free-to-use images.
In most cases, the principal director and the film producer are joint authors and first owners of the economic rights.
If the film is made during the normal course of the director’s employment, the employer is usually the first owner of copyright unless an alternative agreement has been made.
The author and first owner of the copyright of a sound recording is the record producer; in the case of a broadcast, it is the broadcaster, and in the case of a published edition, it would be the publisher.
Ordnance Survey usually allow the copying of an area of map roughly equivalent to A4 size. Ordnance Survey are very strict in regards to copyright and we advise seeking permission before making copies. Contact Ordnance Survey directly to seek permission.
Non OS maps are considered artistic works, so fair dealing copyright exceptions will apply.
When using Digimap or Google Maps, always check their terms and conditions to ensure copyright compliance.
Copyright in material produced by a British government department belongs to the Crown. The Office of Public Sector Information (OPSI) can provide more information about this.
No, there is no need to apply for or register copyright. When you create a new work you automatically own the copyright in it (unless you created the work for your employer). You may choose to add a copyright symbol (©) to your work, but there is no specific need to do so.
Note that copyright protects works, not ideas.
For a lecturer:
For the institution:
These items are called orphan works, and they may be used for educational purposes if evidence of due diligence to trace the rights holder can be provided. Information regarding due diligence is available from the Intellectual Property Office. The lawful rights holder is entitled to request all material from their work be removed; this may happen at any time and you would be obliged to follow their instructions.
If you know who to contact to request permission, you can adapt this permission request form to suit your needs. Contact us if you need any advice on seeking permission.
All disabled people are now covered by the legislation if their impairment affects their ability to study or work on an equal basis as someone without impairment.
See the further information page for more details.
A copy/version of a work which provides easier access for people with disabilities, for example Braille, large-print or audio version of a book produced for a visually impaired person.
A statement of the author and source of a work.
BoB is an off-air recording and media archive service which enables staff and students to choose and record any broadcast programme from 60+ TV and radio channels. The recorded programmes are then kept indefinitely and added to a growing media archive (currently at over 1 million programmes.
The Centre for Heritage Imaging and Collection Care (CHICC) provides a specialist service offering bespoke solutions to the digitisation and collection care of heritage and cultural collections.
A licensing body as defined by the Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988 which licenses organisations to copy and re-use extracts from print and digital publications on behalf of the rights holders.
Our CLA licence covers the photocopying and scanning of most UK publications and some US and international publishers.
It allows:
Details of excluded UK and US publishers, and included overseas countries, can be found at Copyright Licensing Agency website.
An intellectual property right which gives protection to the owner of the rights to an original work. This means that individuals who want to reproduce the original work of others may need to seek permission to do so.
An Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which governs UK copyright law. Small but significant changes were made to copyright exceptions on June 1st 2014.
Creative Commons is a non-profit organisation devoted to expanding the range of creative works available for others to build upon legally and share. There are currently over 800 million works available via Creative Commons.
An expressive creation that includes major, copyright-protected elements of an original, previously created first work (the underlying work). The derivative work becomes a second, separate work independent in form from the first. The transformation, modification or adaptation of the work must be substantial and bear its author's personality to be original and thus protected by copyright.
Conversion of analogue information in any form (text, photographs, voice, etc.) to digital form. Use the Library’s reading list service to digitise teaching resources. For example, book chapters and journal articles can be scanned and the digitised copy then linked to course units in Blackboard.
Economic rights give the rights holder the opportunity to make commercial gain from the exploitation made of their works. It also allows an author to take action to claim compensation for and prevent infringing acts.
An organisation that provides licence schemes to member HE institutions to cover the use of recorded broadcast media in teaching and learning. The ERA Licence grants the right to record broadcasts for non-commercial educational purposes by making ERA Recordings.
The University of Manchester currently has an ERA Licence. This also allows licensed ERA Recordings to be accessed by students and teachers online from outside the premises of their establishment.
In certain circumstances, some works may be used if that use is considered to be 'fair dealing'. There is no strict definition of what this means but it has been interpreted by the courts on a number of occasions by looking at the economic impact of the use on the rights holder. Where the economic impact is not significant, the use may count as fair dealing.
The act of copying, distributing or adapting a work without permission.
An agreement that allows use of a work subject to conditions imposed by the rights holder.
Moral rights are concerned with the protection of the reputation of the author. In particular the right to be attributed for the creation of a work, and the right to object to defamatory treatment.
The NLA licence permits the photocopying and scanning of newspaper articles of all national newspapers and around 80% of local newspapers for the purposes of internal management, education and instruction.
The NLA licence allows:
The NLA licence does not allow:
Open Access (OA) means that items of scholarly work are made available online, in a digital format, at no charge to the reader and with limited restrictions on re-use.
A work in which copyright exists, but where the rights holder is either unknown or cannot be located.
The PRS licence - allows the performance of live music on University premises in the following circumstances:
Works in the public domain are those whose intellectual property rights have expired, have been forfeited, or are otherwise inapplicable.
The PPL licence - for the playing and performance of commercial music (restricted to designated areas within the University)
A person or organisation that owns the copyright of a work. This may be the original author, their relatives if deceased or, if they have assigned their copyright, it may be a publisher or other commercial entity purely associated with exploitation of the work.
The composition of printed material from movable type. Copyright in the typographical arrangement of a published edition expires 25 years from the end of the year in which the edition was first published.
The Innovation Factory (IF) – is the University’s agent for intellectual property commercialisation.
HEFCE’s OA policy states that, to be eligible for submission to the next REF, authors’ final peer-reviewed manuscripts must have been deposited in an institutional or subject repository. Deposited material should be discoverable, and free to read and download, for anyone with an internet connection.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International Licence.