Code of practice
Student code of practice for copyrighted material
A code of practice for students when using copyrighted material
Updated on 15 March 2023
Why do we need a code of practice on copyright?
Most materials you use in learning and research belong to someone. Put simply, the person or persons who create something own the Intellectual Property Rights (any expression of an idea- i.e. inventions; literary and artistic works; designs; symbols, names, and images used in commerce), while the organisations or individuals who publish or distribute them own their Copyright.
You therefore have a responsibility to ensure that your use of information and learning resources does not infringe copyright. It is common for students at the University of Dundee to encounter issues of copyright in the preparation of assessments, essays and presentations. It's also important that you understand copyright for your future career. If an employer gives you a task involving the preparation of a report or the creation of something on behalf of the employer and you don't fully understand how to use information legally and ethically, this will reflect badly on you. The commercial sector is particularly keen to protect its copyright and intellectual property, so knowing what you can and can't do in an employment situation is a necessary skill.
This Code of Practice sets out what is legal and what is illegal in terms of copyright for students in Higher Education - different laws may apply outside Higher Education.
How will the University promote copyright awareness in the curriculum?
It is required that all programmes of study incorporate a session on appropriate use of information in academic study and research at an early stage in the curriculum, covering Copyright issues for students. This session should also cover Referencing and the use of referencing styles, which is addressed in a separate Code of Practice.
Supporting material to provide more detailed information
The Library provide a subject guide to Copyright. The guide offers practical advice and goes into more detail than is possible in this Code of Practice.
Additional information on copyright can be found at Jisc copyright guide for students
Copyright issues relating to teaching, learning and research
Fair dealing
'Fair Dealing' is not a legal process or action, but is a requirement for students to only copy as much of something as they need, and not to infringe the interests of the rightsholder (i.e. to deprive them of sales of their work, or to affect their image or reputation).
Fair Dealing allows you to make a single copy of any copyrighted material, as long as it is for your own private use or for research, and as long as it is only as much as you absolutely need in order to fulfil the purpose of your work. You must, however, always reference such material whenever you use it.
Fair dealing does not allow you to make multiple copies of an item for distribution to others.
To summarise, the test for whether what you are doing is 'fair' consists of two questions (British Library, 2016);
- Has the owner or creator of the work you are copying lost potential revenue through the re-use of their work? If they have, it is not likely to be 'fair'.
- Was it reasonable and necessary to use the amount of work that was taken?
Illustration for instruction
In Higher Education environments such as the University of Dundee you are allowed to make copies of any type of copyrighted material "for the sole purpose of illustration for instruction" (Jisc, 2014). This means that you are able to use "extracts from films, sound recordings and broadcasts as well as text, music and artistic works" to illustrate your learning. Jisc go on to say that "the exception is subject to fair dealing so copying is limited to what is required for the purpose and must not impact on the rightsholder", meaning in effect that the use of any material should not interfere with commercial interests - it shouldn't harm the potential sales of a book, DVD or other creative work.
Open Access
Many research articles are now being published under Open Access arrangements, meaning that they are available to all via Open Access journals or institutional repositories (i.e. Dundee's Discovery portal). Open Access materials can be copied, shared and hosted on secure VLE pages as long as they are covered by a Creative Commons (CC) Licence - you'll need to check the conditions of the CC licence covering the work before doing this.
Creative Commons
Most images found on the Internet are copyright of their creator or owner. Some materials (usually images but also video and sound files) are made available under a Creative Commons Licence. Creative Commons materials are free of copyright restrictions and may therefore be copied, shared and even modified by anyone. You should always provide a reference to any Creative Commons material you use, however.
Common copyright issues which may apply to you
The table below details the common scenarios where copyright infringement is likely to be an issue in your learning. It is not intended to be exhaustive, but does reflect some of the key issues encountered in the promotion of copyright awareness at the University of Dundee. If you would like to see anything added to this list of scenarios please contact the author of this document. Future revisions of this Code of Practice will include emerging issues in copyright or areas where more clarity is required.
Sharing materials with each other personally, via email, on memory sticks etc
| Copyright scenario | May I? | Why (not)? |
|---|---|---|
| Sharing or passing on copyrighted material of any kind with fellow students, personally, via email, memory stick etc. | Yes | This is usually ok as long as a) it is for the purpose of learning, b) it is not shared online, and c) no further copies are made. |
Sharing materials via MyDundee or other Virtual Learning Environments
| Copyright scenario | May I? | Why (not)? |
|---|---|---|
| Uploading copyrighted materials (pdfs of articles or book chapters, images, sound files etc.) to discussion boards on MyDundee or other Virtual Learning Environment | No | It is illegal to 're-publish' any copyrighted material on a VLE. Instead, just add the URL of the resource (see below) |
| Providing links to copyrighted materials available online through MyDundee or other Virtual Learning Environment | Yes | It is okay to refer other students to the original source of a document. |
Scanning or copying materials
| Copyright scenario | May I? | Why (not)? |
|---|---|---|
| Scanning a printed article or chapter yourself and circulating it to other students | No | If the document isn't available in digitised format you cannot simply create a digital copy to share. The LLC will create a digitised copy of a document where requested to do so by academic staff. It will be shared to you via your online Reading List. |
| Scanning or photocopying a printed article or chapter of a book for your own use | Yes | This is legal under the 'Fair Dealing', arrangement. |
| Scanning or photocopying an entire book or journal issue | No | Illegal -you are infringing Copyright. You may only copy up to one chapter from a book, one article from an issue of a journal, and in all cases no more than 10% of the whole source document. |
| Using copyrighted information (including text, tables, images, video clips etc.) in any form of assessment (essay, report, dissertation, portfolio, PowerPoint presentation) without attributing its source | No | All information used in assessments, including images, should be referenced to identify its source. Anything you copy for use in assessments is subject to 'fair dealing' |
| Using a copyrighted image in any form of assessment for the purpose of making it more attractive | No | This would not count as 'fair dealing' as the image is being used for aesthetic reasons rather than to illustrate a point |
| Using a copyrighted image in a PowerPoint presentation, and then sharing the presentation with your fellow students via MyDundee or other Virtual Learning Environment | Yes | Under 'Illustration for Instruction', it would be ok to use an image of Mickey Mouse to illustrate a point in a presentation on Disney animation, as long as it's referenced |
| Using a copyrighted image in a PowerPoint for the purpose of instruction, and then sharing the presentation on a webpage | No | This would not be legal unless you had written permission from the holder(s) of the copyright for all images used |
| Using Copyright-free images in any form of assessment. | Yes | It's always better to use copyright-free images where possible, but note that even 'non-copyright' images are subject to the law on sharing (see above). You may use image available under a Creative Commons Licence, or images sourced from free image banks. Alternatively, you can filter 'reusable' images from a Google Image search. |
References
British Library (2016) Fair use copyright explained. Accessed: December 14th 2018
Jisc (2014) Exceptions to infringement of copyright. Accessed: December 14th 2018