What is copyright?
Copyright subsists in any original work (or part of that work) from the
moment it is created. The rights holder (usually the author, but in some
cases the employer) is granted certain rights which are protected by law
over how the work may be used - this includes copying. Copyright may be
assigned to a third party, such as a publisher, and a fee may be charged
by the rights holder to copy the work. Duration of copyright varies, but
in many cases a literary or artistic work will remain in copyright from
the point of creation until 70 years following the death of the author.
It should be noted that in all cases where copyright material is used
or referred to proper acknowledgement should be made of the source.
What about copying for personal study?
The "fair dealing" exception of the Copyright
Designs and Patents Act 1988 allows individuals to make a single copy
of up to 5% of a single published work, or one article from a single journal
issue or one chapter from a book, for the purposes of private research
or study. Proper acknowledgement should be made of the source. The "fair
dealing" exception does not extend to copying for the purposes of
teaching, including presentations. Copying for commercial purposes is
prohibited without prior permission from the rights holder. In such cases
the individual should obtain permission directly from the rights holder
(for which the rights holder may charge).
What about copying for teaching?
The "education" exception of the Copyright
Designs and Patents Act 1988 allows non-reprographic (handwritten)
copying of an original published work for the purposes of instruction.
Reprographic copying for the purposes of setting an examination is permitted
however. The Act does also permit some limited reprographic copying for
the purposes of instruction unless a licence exists granting permission
for such copying. Such licences do exist, so in practice this element
of the exception is of little consequence.
Licences
The School has a licence from the Copyright
Licensing Agency (CLA) which allows multiple photocopies to be made
from original published printed works owned by LSHTM (or from copyright
fee-paid copies) for distribution to members of the School for the purposes
of teaching, within certain limits. The licence permits sufficient copies
to be made for every student on a course of study plus one for the lecturer.
The "fair dealing" limits relating to the amount that may be
copied still apply. Proper acknowledgement should be made of the source.
Copying for commercial purposes is prohibited without prior permission
from the rights holder.
The CLA licence also allows scanning of some printed material for use
within the School's VLE (Blackboard), again within certain limits. All
scanning for teaching purposes at LSHTM must be undertaken via the Teaching
Support Office, as regular reporting to the CLA of the School's scanning
activity is required as a condition of the licence.
The School has a licence from the Newspaper
Licensing Agency (NLA) which allows copies to be made from newspapers
(which are not covered by the CLA licence), within certain limits.
The School has a licence from the Educational
Recording Agency (ERA) which allows broadcast programmes to be recorded
and shown within the School for the purposes of teaching.
What about using digital material?
There is a common misconception that because material is available to
view on the internet it can be reproduced and used as the user sees fit.
This is not the case. Where no explicit permission is granted by the rights
holder in advance for the intended use, permission must be sought from
the rights holder.
In many cases providing a hyperlink within a presentation or learning
object to the online source of a digital document or article you wish
to refer to can overcome the need to copy the material itself. There are
also many resources containing copyright-cleared images (where permission
has already been granted) for use in presentations and teaching materials
that members of the School can make use of.
What about recording/broadcasting lectures?
Performers enjoy rights akin to copyright, so lecturers must give prior
written permission for a recording to be made of them speaking and for
onward broadcast. For copyright material to be included in the recording
(such as material contained within a visual presentation) the copyright
holder must have given their permission for this. If they have not, it
should be excluded from the recording.
Further information & queries
Copyright resources, including the School's Intellectual Property Policy,
checklists, forms and useful links can be found here.
Members of the School with queries should contact David
Archer, Reader Services Librarian. Please note that the information
contained here does not constitute legal opinion.