Copyright? SHHH!!!

Copyright guide: http://www.sbe.hw.ac.uk/staff/pauline/

Obviously some things cannot be put in writing but in this talk I hope to show how it can work in practice.

Another useful set of guides and links can be found at:

http://www.jisclegal.ac.uk/ipr/IntellectualPropertyPub.htm

• Huge amount of work – avoid it if possible!

• Almost everything is covered by copyright – need proof of permission/authority

• All your materials belong to HW

• Rules for research/private study and teaching differ

• Big difference between photocopying and electronic materials:

we already have permission for many photocopied materials through the CLA

we don’t have permission for most electronic storage/copying

Photocopying – already some allowed(no electronic storage allowed)

• HW pay a fee to the CLA for each student/staff (not those on CPD courses) that allows, e.g.:

up to 5% or one whole chapter (whichever is the greater) from a book

up to 5% or one whole article (whichever is the greater) from a single issue of a journal

 up to 5% or one paper (whichever is the greater) from a set of conference proceedings

Photocopying – many exceptions! e.g.• If HW does not own a copy (including ILLs)

• Many US publishers

• Newspapers

• Theses

• Materials from other Uni’s even if you wrote them!

• Anything “excluded”

• …and lots more…

It is your responsibility to check the details – see guide

Electronic materials – daft but true!• CLA licence only covers paper-paper copying and

not anything electronic = scanned/from internet

• It is not sufficient to only cite the sources of figures need written permission for each individual item

Text:

• Too much hassle – see guide – individual requests easier – but usually easy to rewrite

Photos:

• Most images on the web are owned even if not stated = hard to find owner

Electronic materials – more…

Diagrams/Graphs:

• Same rules as photos. It is best to redraw them for improved quality - still counts as copying if it is a “substantial part”

• Always wise to pacify owners by citing their work correctly! – even if only a small part of the diagram

• Some tricky questions:

?What counts as “substantial”?

?A diagram is so common/old?

?In the public realm/standard diagrams?

A substantial part?

A substantial part?

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Electronic materials – more…

Diagrams/Graphs:

• Same rules as photos. It is best to redraw them for improved quality - still counts as copying if it is a “substantial part”

• Always wise to pacify owners by citing their work correctly! – even if only a small part of the diagram

• Some tricky questions:

?What counts as “substantial”?

?A diagram is so common/old?

?In the public realm/standard diagrams?

So common/old

= no obvious source?

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1.0

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2

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Electronic materials – more…

Diagrams/Graphs:

• Same rules as photos. It is best to redraw them for improved quality - still counts as copying if it is a “substantial part”

• Always wise to pacify owners by citing their work correctly! – even if only a small part of the diagram

• Some tricky questions:

?What counts as “substantial”?

?A diagram is so common/old?

?In the public realm/standard diagrams?

Standard diagrams= no obvious source?

2

3

4

6

7 8

1

5

P aralle lS eries

Electronic materials – even more…

Videos/Audio/Newspapers/Software/Databases etc…

• Complicated as rules vary between media – read the small print!

• Generally will need to ask permission individually although there are some exceptions e.g.

Newspapers can be copied for communicating current affairs but this will only last a few days. To copy older material the NLA blanket licence might cost HW up to £32k!

You should expect to pay for each reproduction

Special cases - we do have permission• Resources from the Library website= Electronic journals/British Standards etc.(best to direct students to the correct URL)

• Crown copyright

• Some collaborative research with other Uni’s

• Special cases where permission granted in advance

• Some broadcast programmes (on-campus/UK only) recorded by a HW member of staff at the time of broadcast. This can even been digital and on-line.

Obtaining proof of permission • Publisher not the author usually owns copyright

• Verbal permission not enough – need in writing

• Can take months to get a response – start early!

• You may need to reapply each year

Usually need to provide:• Full details of original source – not difficult if all

diagrams correctly cited (keep a table as in guide?)

• A copy the relevant section of your final draft

• A request letter (course title, no. of students etc. – can use draft letter in guide)

Keep all documentation as proof!

Responsibility• The CLA can chose to investigate at any time and

has prosecuted Uni’s in the past (they offer financial rewards – that’s my pension sorted!!!) – hence we need documentary evidence

• Asking permissions is most efficiently done by the of the author of the module

• In SBE a DL module should not get approval from the School’s Editorial Board without a complete set of paperwork on copyright permissions

I can provide informal advice but ask Derek Brown (TRS) for the finer details – but he will usually err on the cautious side and say “NO”!

Liability • The CLA would probably prosecute the Uni rather

than an individual member of staff

But the import question is…

• Will I get sacked for breaking Copyright Law?

• Good question!

This isn’t a training course

OR???

Contributor: Brian Wilson © Brian Wilson  image courtesy: LTSN Bioscience ImageBank http://bio.ltsn.ac.uk/imagebank/

Drawn by ME!!© Heriot-Watt University