Electronic Copyright Information
UWE Copyright Resources
- UWE Guidelines on Copyright (full guidelines on print and electronic copyright provided by the UWE Finance Department)
- Basic advice on using electronic resources
- Electronic Copyright at UWE
- Intellectual property, licences and exploitation agreements
External copyright resources.
Basic advice on using electronic resources
Copyright exists to protect the moral and economic rights of creators of original works. This right is enforced by law and has developed to protect the rights of creators to benefit from their works and prevent misuse or misattribution of these works by others.
Whenever you are using electronically stored information or material (such as items on the Internet) it is important to remember that, unless explicitly stated otherwise, the majority of such resources will be subject to copyright restrictions and will be the property of the copyright holder (who might be the creator, the publisher, employer etc). Even if there is no copyright statement on the material you are looking at, you must not assume that it is copyright-free.
The range of electronic materials to which copyright may apply is very broad, including
- text (inc. emails)
- images (drawings, diagrams, logos, animations etc.)
- tables of data
- video files
- sound files
- compilations of links, frequently asked questions etc.
Key points to remember:
- always look for copyright notices or terms and conditions of use stated on resources themselves
- just because it is easy to access, you must not assume that information posted on the Internet is freely available to be used in any way you choose
- you must not assume that, if there is no copyright notice on the material, it can be copied freely
- copying someone else's web page to be adapted for your own purposes is a copyright infringement unless permission is obtained
Making links to other web pages
It is common practice for web pages to include links to external web sites, and this does not usually cause a problem. It is still good practice to check for any conditions that might apply to a particular website, however, and if in doubt contact the copyright owner.
When creating hyperlinks remember:
- it is advisable to create a link to the home page of a website rather than linking to a deep level of the site: this helps to avoid the issues of referring to information out of context, or seeming to pass information off as your own
- clearly label links with the name of the website and the individual or corporate author: this will help inform your users of what they are looking at and avoid the issue of passing the information off as your own
- when you are creating hypertext links you should be careful not to authorise users to make copies of the site you are referencing unless this is expressly permitted
Electronic Copyright at UWE
A new Photocopying and Scanning Licence has recently been obtained and this section is under review. Please contact Finance for more information.
Intellectual property, licences and exploitation agreements
The Research, Business and Innovation Contracts Team manage processes for negotiating and agreeing contracts for UWE's research, consultancy and educational projects. Assistance and advice is also available on matters related to intellectual property, licences and exploitation agreements. Further information can be found on their website at: http://rbi.uwe.ac.uk/intranet/contracts/default.asp.
Advisory Documentation
Copyright Licensing Agency
http://www.cla.co.uk/
This site contains some very helpful information about general copyright issues.
JISC/Publishers Association Working Party Papers and Reports
http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/services/elib/papers/pa/intro.html
Includes the Guidelines for Fair Dealing in an Electronic Environment.
http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/services/elib/papers/pa/fair/intro.html
JISC/TLTP Copyright Guidelines
http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/services/elib/papers/other/
Produced by the JISC/TLTP Copyright Working Group as pointers to good practice in Higher Education in the UK.
(Created: November 11 1998).
TASI (Technical Advisory Service for Images)
http://www.tasi.ac.uk/
Contains some useful information on copyright relating to electronic media.
Copyright Organisations
Copyright Licensing Agency
http://www.cla.co.uk/
The CLA is a non-profit making company which licenses users for copying extracts from books, journals and periodicals. The CLA is responsible for looking after the interests of rights holders and aims to encourage respect for copyright in general.
Copyright Tribunal
http://www.ipo.gov.uk/ctribunal.htm
Government agency with responsibility for copyright licensing schemes.
See also Licensing Schemes below.
Her Majesty's Stationery Office
http://www.hmso.gov.uk/copyright/managing_copyright.htm
Copyright guidance on Crown Copyright and Parliamentary Copyright.
IPR-Helpdesk
http://www.ipr-helpdesk.org/
Intellectual Property Rights Helpdesk is a project of the European Commission's Directorate General for Enterprise. Primarily looking at technical aspects of IPR, the site has information on intellectual property aspects of World Wide Web authoring.
UWE Library resources page on Copyright and Intellectual Property
http://www.uwe.ac.uk/library/resources/law/lawsub/intell.htm
This page includes links to a number of the major national and international organisations who play a role in copyright and intellectual property matters.
Licensing schemes and agencies
The creation of copyright licensing schemes is overseen by a government agency called the Copyright Tribunal, which also deals with disputes arising between parties over the terms and conditions of licenses and or licensing schemes. Further information about the functions and responsibilities of the Copyright Tribunal can be found on the Tribunal website.
Copyright Tribunal
http://www.ipo.gov.uk/ctribunal.htm
Copyright Licensing Agency
http://www.cla.co.uk/
Provides details of the CLA's Higher Education Licenses, including the Digitisation Licensing Scheme.
- UWE has entered into an agreement with the Copyright Licensing Agency, the requirements of which can be found in the
University's Copyright Guidelines, paragraphs 40 - 44 - Information relating to the CLA licensing arrangements for the special purpose of creating paper based study packs is to be found in the
University's Copyright Guidelines, paragraphs 45 - 46 - Electronic copying and digital copyright restrictions as they relate to the University's agreement with the CLA are to be found in the
University's Copyright Guidelines, paragraphs 47 - 50
Educational Recording Agency (ERA)
http://www.era.org.uk/
ERA provides licensing to educational institutions for the recording of radio or television broadcasts and cable output of ERA's Members, apart from the Open University, which operates under a separate license.
- UWE holds an ERA license, the provisions of which are described in the University's Copyright Guidelines, paragraphs 52 - 55
HERON (Higher Education Resources On-Demand)
http://www.heron.ac.uk/
HERON is a scheme run by partner institutions within UK HE which offers a copyright clearance, digitisation and delivery service for book extracts and journal articles. HEIs must be members of the scheme in order to use the service.
A current subscription to the HERON scheme is maintained by the Academic Technologies Group, based in IT Services.
Newspaper Licensing Agency (NLA)
http://www.nla.co.uk/
A limited company offering copyright licensing scheme services for the reproduction of newspaper publications.
- UWE holds an NLA license, the provisions of which are described in the
University's Copyright Guidelines, paragraph 51
