Whether you are a PhD student writing your thesis or an academic publishing a scholarly paper, you need to know about copyright law.
Disseminating research outputs is essential to the success of the institution and its researchers. However, it is important that this dissemination takes account of copyright law, and that researchers act according to the licences or conditions agreed with publishers, funding agencies and other relevant parties.
Yes, UK copyright law allows researchers to make copies of works ‘for text and data analysis’. This means that where a user has lawful access to a work (eg an e-journal or database subscription) they can make a copy of it for the purpose of carrying out a computational analysis of anything recorded in the work.
The exception only applies under the following conditions:
Copyright is infringed if the copy made is transferred to another person, or it is used for purposes different than those permitted by law (although the researcher could ask the owner for permission to do either of these things). Also, copies made for text and data analysis cannot be sold or let for hire.
Importantly, the law cannot be overridden by contract. Contractual terms which set out to restrict or prevent the doing of the acts permitted under law are unenforceable.
These items are called orphan works, and they may be used for educational purposes if evidence of due diligence to trace the copyright holder can be provided. Information regarding due diligence is available from the Intellectual Property Office. The lawful copyright 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.
No, there is no need to apply for or register copyright. When you create a new work you automatically own the copyright on 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.
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.
Yes. 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.
Text Data Mining (TDM) refers to the process of deriving high-quality information from text. High-quality information is typically derived through the devising of patterns and trends through means such as statistical pattern learning.
A new copyright exception was introduced in 2014 which enabled 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 or database is required to access a work then this will still be necessary.
Creative Commons is an online resource containing over 800 million creative works, which are available for others to legally access and share.
Creative Commons contains several copyright licences, which allow creators to control how their work is used and which copyright rights they wish to reserve and which they are willing to waive. Information regarding the different licences is available on the CC Website.
You can search for material licensed under different types of Creative Commons licences using the Creative commons search.
Yes. Copyright guidance concerning the incorporation of other people’s work into your research still applies. You should ensure you have permission to use any third party materials if they are in copyright. Many conference presentations are recorded and shared online making any breaches of copyright a higher risk. However, you may be able to use extracts of works under fair dealing exceptions, if you have any doubts then contact us.
Possibly, though we usually advise caution, as the self-archiving policies of some publishers do not allow sharing of work on for-profit or commercial repositories, which both these websites are. We also recommend checking the version of the work that publishers permit sharing, if they allow sharing via these platforms – it’s more likely to be the Author Accepted Manuscript (AAM) that can be shared, rather than the final publisher’s version. The AAM is the version of the paper at the point of acceptance, following peer-review, but not yet formatted for publication. Please contact our Scholarly Communications service with the details of the paper/s you’d like to share and they will check the publisher’s self-archiving policies on your behalf.
Copyright is an important consideration when publishing your thesis. Although in most cases you own the intellectual property (IP) in your thesis, it may also contain third-party copyright materials such as photographs and diagrams. In such cases you must ensure that you have the permission of the rights holder to include these materials, as your final thesis will be made available to others via the University’s institutional repository. The University’s Presentation of Theses policy requires that all PGR theses are made Open Access no longer than 12 months after submission unless an exception to the policy is required due to sponsorship or sensitive content. The permissions request to the rights holder should include the rights to make the materials available through the University's institutional repository.
Since postgraduate research students at the University of Manchester are required to submit an electronic version of their examination and final corrected thesis, we strongly advise that you request permission to use third-party material at the time of writing your thesis. If the copyright permissions are not forthcoming from rights holders, the third-party material might have to be removed (redacted) from the final published eThesis.
You do, unless you have entered into an agreement (such as an assignment or employment agreement) which transfers such copyright/IP to another party.
IP described in your thesis, such as a patentable invention or software copyright, may belong to someone else. When in doubt we suggest always talk with your supervisor and contact the University of Manchester Intellectual Property (UMIP) service for advice.
Your eThesis may contain third-party copyright materials such as photographs and diagrams. In such cases you must ensure that you have the permission of the copyright holder to include these materials as the University’s Presentation of Theses policy requires that your thesis is made available to others. This permission should include the rights to make the materials available through the University's institutional repository. For further information see our guidance on deciding whether to make your thesis available to others.
If you are externally funded, check the conditions of your grant. You may need to request an exception to the University’s policy if your eThesis cannot be made Open Access within 12 months of submission. See the eThesis Support Service for more information.
No, you will be unable to make this version of your thesis freely and openly available through the institutional repository. You will need to request an exception to the University’s policy during examination submission. See the eThesis Support Service for more information.
The Library’s eThesis team can advise you on the possibility of making a redacted version of your thesis openly available.
eTheses are available via the University’s institutional repository. The eThesis Support Service has a well-defined takedown process, developed in line with the University’s Takedown Policy, to protect individuals and the University from legal proceedings if any item of work attracts a complaint from a third party.
All electronic theses are available to schools/faculties for plagiarism detection purposes. It is at the examiner's discretion whether a particular thesis is subject to plagiarism detection software.
Yes. Whilst you will own the copyright of the thesis itself, you will not own the copyright of any third party materials used within it. Therefore, unless such material is out of copyright or covered by a copyright exception, you will need to obtain permission from the copyright owners in order to use third party content within your thesis. Alternatively, you can publish a redacted version of your thesis if the third party material is not covered by a copyright exception or you are unable to obtain permission. Contact the Copyright Guidance Service for further advice.
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.
No. Only a portion of a print thesis may be copied by a Library user for research and private study (5% is often recommended as a guideline), see Guide to copyright - theses.
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.
Signing a publisher’s licence agreement normally transfers copyright to your publisher. If you wish to post your articles online you should review the conditions of any agreements you are asked to sign.
Open Access publishing does not require academic authors to give up their copyright in the same way as traditional publishing. Depending on the licensing terms used for publication, Open Access material can be downloaded for offline reading, printed and distributed to students, be open to automated text and data mining, and so on.
Note that publishing your work on an Open Access basis does not involve giving up all rights in your work. In fact, as the licensing terms are looser than the "all rights reserved" model, publishing your work on an Open Access basis gives you more control of how your work is distributed. It allows you to post your work in an online repository, re-use it in other publications, and so on, while freeing other users of your work from worries that downloading your work might be illegal.
The Creative Commons CC-BY licence is normally recommended for Open Access publishing and public funding bodies in the UK are increasingly requiring its use. This licence grants users the freedom to share and re-use published content as long as the original author is attributed. Find out more about the various Creative Commons licences.
The Enterprise and Business Development Unit can help with this; contact them for more information. Many researchers will require an understanding of IP, ownership issues and commercialisation of any research.
Pure is available for Manchester Research staff to maintain permanent records of their research outputs. Bibliographical details are made available to search, and where copyright allows, the full-text and supplementary materials may also be available to freely view and download.
University staff can access Pure via the Pure Login.
Further information regarding Pure for research students is available at Electronic Thesis.
If your paper has already been published you will probably have signed an agreement transferring copyright to the publisher. If your paper has not yet been submitted to a journal you, as the author, retain the copyright unless you have made other arrangements with a funder or sponsor. The University generally does not assert copyright in respect of research related materials.
This depends on the contract you signed with the publisher, as this sets out which rights you signed-over to them, and which rights you retained.
If you are unsure, contact the publisher directly for clarification. You can also read the current agreement displayed on the publisher's website regarding publishing and ownership, and assume you retained the same permissions. A copy of the copyright agreement form is often available in the ‘for authors' section of the publisher's website.
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.
Visit the Understand Open Access web pages for more information.
There are two main routes to making your research Open Access.
Gold Open Access
The Gold Open Access is where the:
Green Open Access
Green OA is where the:
Visit the Understand Open Access web pages for more information.
When publishing research in an Open Access format you will still be required to obtain permission from the copyright holders of any third party content within your research. Contact the Copyright Guidance Service for further guidance.
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.
If you retain the copyright, you can license your work using any of the Creative Commons Licences available.
If your work contains any third party copyright material, you must ensure you have the copyright holder's permission to make their work available under a Creative Commons licence unless an exception to copyright applies.
It is important to remember once you choose a Creative Commons Licence you are not able to revoke it. The work can be used under the terms of your chosen licence for the usual duration of copyright protection. For more information, see the Creative Commons Wiki.
The Creative Commons website provides detailed information regarding the various licences available. The site also provides a licence selector tool to assist you in choosing the most applicable licence.
There are several steps you can take to ensure your work is protected. Creators commonly mark their work with the copyright symbol © followed by their name (or names) and the year in which the work was published: © John Smith 2015.
This is not essential but demonstrates the owner of the work and when copyright protection began. The UK Copyright Service offers advice on further methods of protecting your work.
Yes, HEFCE’s new policy requires this. It is a Green Open Access policy and authors are not required to pay Open Access fees to publishers to comply with the policy. For more information visit our Open Access policies pages.
This is not essential but demonstrates the owner of the work and when copyright protection began. The UK Copyright Service offers advice on further methods of protecting your work.
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.