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Copyright: Copyright for Teaching

Responsibility

Please note that it is the individual staff member's responsibility to ensure that they comply with copyright law. Copyright is a complex area and little is set in stone. It can take legal proceedings to clarify areas such as fair dealing, however no one wants to be a test case, so please ask if you are not sure.
 

Use a licence or get permission

Never assume that you can copy or use material for teaching or research without getting permission, just because your use is educational or non-commercial.

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Image CC0 PD, from Pixabay.

Using Copyright material for teaching and learning at Health Sciences University

Copyright is an automatic right which protects all who have created an original piece of work. The copyright owner (usually the creator of the work) has the right to control the way in which the work is used, and can prevent others using the work and exploiting it without permission. Copyright within work may be purchased, licensed or assigned.

Understanding copyright law and how it applies is of fundamental importance. As users, producers and disseminators of information you need to maximise your ability to exploit the value of your work, as well as minimise the risk of infringement and the consequent liability towards others.

These guidelines aim to provide the fundamentals that you need to know about copyright and related rights at Health Sciences University so that you can:

  • identify whether and how copyright issues affect your work
  • make informed decisions on the best way to address copyright implications with reference to the Health Sciences University Copyright Policy 
  • find out who to contact for further advice.

Copyright is an area of the law which is often misunderstood, and although straightforward in principle, in practice it can become complex which can lead to individuals and organisations finding themselves on the wrong side of the law. In order to minimise the risk of infringement which can lead to civil or criminal charges staff, students and partners are advised to refer to these guidelines and if in doubt email Learning Services for further advice or clarification.

CLA Licence

Health Sciences University pays annual fees to the CLA in exchange for a licence that allows staff and students to copy extracts from most of our books, journals and periodicals.

The main conditions of the licence are that any copies made must not exceed (either singly or in aggregate) over ten per cent of any published edition, or:

  • in the case of a book, one complete chapter;
  • in the case of an article in an issue of a serial publication or in a set of conference proceedings, one whole article;
  • in the case of an anthology of short stories or poems, one short story or a poem not exceeding ten pages in length;
  • in the case of a published report of judicial proceedings, the entire report of a case.

A list of excluded works for which copying permission must be obtained directly from publishers is available from the CLA.

Please note: the licence covers photocopying and scanning for teaching purposes, but in order to comply with the reporting requirements all scanned readings must be prepared by Learning Services staff. Photocopies can however be prepared within a department provided they fall under the License. 

Photocopying and scanning

All photocopying and scanning of copyright materials must comply with UK legislation, with any licence agreements held by Health Sciences University, or be undertaken with the permission of rights holders.

 

Further help

Contact Learning Services for further help and advice. 
Phone: +44 (0)1202 436306

Copyright FAQs