Acts restricted by copyright

Copyright arises automatically once the original work is recorded in writing or some other form, it is not necessary to use the © symbol for this right to arise though individuals may choose to use it if they are the original creator of the work. Copyright law applies to all published material so it is vital to understand the basics of copyright law when you are working in an educational setting.

Copyright is usually owned by the creator of the work, but it can be sold or transferred to another person or company by the owner. Copyright owners have both economic and moral rights over their content. This means that they can control how much of their work can be copied, loaned, rented, performed or adapted. You can find out more about these rights on the UK Government Website. Copyright can also be licensed. 

Licences usually grant permission to use copyrighted materials (subject to predetermined conditions around format, extent, purpose or intended use and the time the material is accessed). The licence enables the licensee to perform some act in respect of copyright that would otherwise be an infringement of the owner's copyright. Licences can be exclusive (where the licence owner agrees not to license the same rights to anyone else) or non-exclusive (where the copyright owner can grant the same rights to others). You can read more about the licences held by the University of Sunderland in the Copyright in Education section of this guide.

Generally speaking, the length of copyright protection for written, dramatic, musical and artistic work is 70 years after the author's death. For sound and musical recordings, copyright protection is for 70 years from the first publication. You can find detailed information about the duration of copyright for various works and performances on the Intellectual Property Office website.

When copyright expires on a book, song or film, the work is said to fall into the public domain. Works in the public domain have no copyright attached; you can re-use that work for free, without the need to ask for permission from anyone. You can just copy it and use it. When trying to work out if a book is in the public domain, you need to know who the author is and when they died. If it was more than 70 years ago, then the book is likely in the public domain, and you can copy from it.

Copying somebody else's intellectual property is prohibited unless first authorised by law, permission or licence. Without such authorisation, copying is illegal and might even constitute a criminal offence.

Works in the public domain

When a work's copyright duration has expired, it is said to fall into the public domain. You can refer to the tables on the government website to see whether copyright has expired. If the work is still within copyright protection, you should check the licence terms, which may allow the work to be freely used or within certain uses. Lastly, check whether your intended use is covered by an exception. If none of these apply, then you will require permission or a licence to use the work.

Orphan works

Orphan works are creative works or performances that are subject to copyright, like a diary, photograph, film or piece of music for which one or more of the right holders is either unknown or cannot be found. You can find out more about orphan works and how you may be able to use them on the government website.

Text and data mining is the use of automated analytical techniques to analyse text and data for patterns, trends and other useful information. Text and data mining usually requires copying the work to be analysed.

An exception to copyright exists which allows researchers to make copies of any copyright material for computational analysis if they already have the right to read the work (that is, they have ‘lawful access’ to the work). This exception only permits the making of copies for text and data mining for non-commercial research. Researchers will still have to buy subscriptions to access material; this could be from many sources, including academic publishers.

Publishers and content providers will be able to apply reasonable measures to maintain their network security or stability, but these measures should not prevent or unreasonably restrict researchers’ ability to text and data mine. Contract terms that stop researchers from making copies to carry out text and data mining will be unenforceable.

Fair dealing for criticism, review or quotation is allowed for any type of copyright work. Fair dealing with a work to report current events is allowed for any type of copyright work other than a photograph. In each of these cases, a sufficient acknowledgement will be required.

As stated, a photograph cannot be reproduced for the purpose of reporting current events. The law intends to prevent newspapers or magazines from reproducing photographs for reporting current events which have appeared in competitors’ publications.

For a full list of exceptions, please refer to the government's website.

Several exceptions allow copyright works to be used for educational purposes, such as:

• The copying of works in any medium, as long as the use is solely to illustrate a point, is not done for commercial purposes, is accompanied by a sufficient acknowledgement, and the use is fair dealing. This means minor uses, such as displaying a few lines of poetry on an interactive whiteboard, are permitted, but uses which would undermine sales of teaching materials are not
• Performing, playing or showing copyright works in a school, university or other educational establishment for educational purposes. However, it only applies if the audience is limited to teachers, pupils and others directly connected with the activities of the establishment. It will not generally apply if parents are in the audience. Examples of this are showing a video for English or drama lessons, and the teaching of music. It is unlikely to include the playing of a video during a wet playtime purely to amuse the children
• Recording a TV programme or radio broadcast for non-commercial educational purposes in an educational establishment, provided there is no licensing scheme in place. Generally, a licence will be required from the Educational Recording Agency.
• Making copies by using a photocopier, or similar device on behalf of an educational establishment for the purpose of non-commercial instruction, provided that there is no licensing scheme in place. Generally, a licence will be required from the Copyright Licensing Agency.

There are two exceptions to copyright for the benefit of disabled people. These exceptions cover you if you have a physical or mental impairment which prevents you from accessing copyright-protected materials.

One exception allows you, or someone acting on your behalf, to make a copy of a lawfully obtained copyrighted work if you make it in a format that helps you access the material. For example, if you buy a book from a shop and then make a Braille copy to help with a visual impairment, then you are not infringing the copyright in the book.

The second exception permits educational establishments and charity organisations to make, communicate, make available, distribute and lend accessible-format copies of protected works on behalf of disabled people. The exception permits acts such as:

• Making braille, audio or large-print copies of books, newspapers or magazines for visually-impaired people.
• Adding audio description to films or broadcasts for visually-impaired people.
• making sub-titled films or broadcasts for deaf or hard-of-hearing people.
• making accessible copies of books, newspapers or magazines for dyslexic people.

Certain legal requirements must be met for the disability exceptions to be relied upon when making or dealing with an accessible copy. These requirements include:

• Accessible copies of copyright-protected works can be made only from lawfully accessed copies.
• An accessible copy can only be made by a disabled person or an authorised body acting on their behalf.
• The copy can only be made for the personal use of a disabled person. Accessible copies cannot be made, communicated, made available, distributed or lent to a person who is not a disabled person under these exceptions.
• Bodies that make, communicate, make available, distribute and lend accessible copies must fulfil the definition of an “authorised body” outlined in Section 31F CDPA.
• An accessible copy must only change a copyrighted work to the extent that is necessary to convert it to an accessible format.
• The making, communicating, making available, distributing or lending of an accessible copy by an authorised body must be done on a non-profit basis. This means that, for example, an authorised body must not make a profit when they make and distribute an accessible copy of a book.

A recording of a broadcast can be made in domestic premises for private and domestic use to enable it to be viewed or listened to at a more convenient time. The making of a recording of a broadcast for purposes other than to time-shift a programme for you or your family is likely to be illegal.

There is an exception to copyright that permits people to use limited amounts of copyright material without the owner’s permission for parody, caricature or pastiche. For example, a comedian may use a few lines from a film or song for a parody sketch; a cartoonist may reference a well-known artwork or illustration for a caricature; an artist may use small fragments from a range of films to compose a larger pastiche artwork.

It is important to understand, however, that this exception only permits use for caricature, parody, or pastiche to the extent that it is fair dealing.

Acknowledging the work of others is common practice in academic writing.  It is good practice to provide sufficient acknowledgement and information about any copyrighted resources you use in the form of Title/Author/Source/Link. 

You can learn more about referencing and acknowledging sources in the Referencing Guide below.