Copyright protects the moral and economic rights of writers, publishers and other creators and applies to physical materials and to the electronic environment.
Copyright is infringed by copying without permission. All staff and students of the University have obligations to observe copyright law and the terms of associated licences. Information about copying guidelines can be found next to all Library photocopiers and scanners and on the following university copyright pages.
The Copyright Licensing Agency Higher Education Licence enables the use of extracts of copyright protected printed books and journals to support teaching. It does not apply to any materials other than printed books and journals. It applies both to photocopying and scanning (digitisation).
Institutions are required to limit scanning to nominated individuals, to record every item scanned, and to ensure that a digital version is not already available commercially. The Library has established a digitisation service to ensure that the terms of the licence are adhered to.
Durham University holds extensive collections of international repute within its many libraries. Authors and researchers wishing to include material held within these collections within their own work must secure the necessary copyright permissions from university authorities.
Users wishing to make use of Durham University copyrighted materials must, in the first instance, contact the University's Copyright Officer, Colin Theakston. He will endeavour to either answer the query himself or pass it on to relevant expert staff.
Researchers and writers wishing to make use of the vast collections held at our Palace Green Library are encouraged to visit our Archives and Special Collections guide to browse their holdings and secure the necessary copyright permissions from the options available there.
Changes to copyright regulations now allow lecturers to deliver teaching using multimedia methods:
Copyright is of particular relevance where lectures are being recorded. A variety of works are protected under copyright law - text, film, sound recordings, photographs and diagrams. Extracts from such works can be used in recorded lectures under a variety of educational exceptions and licences, but it is the responsibility of each staff member, or visiting lecturer, not to infringe the intellectual property rights of third parties. Also please remember that a recording itself is also a copyright work in its own right.
Although it is technically straightforward to insert third party materials into lectures and seminars, meaning for example putting an image into a PowerPoint slide or using video clips from commercially available DVDs, it may not be legal or acceptable to use these materials however unless:
It is important therefore to remember that:
There are ways though by which you can legally use images in your recorded lectures; for example
The lecture content and its recording attract copyright which will, by default, be owned by the University, as indicated in the University’s Intellectual Property Rights Policy. In the case of a guest lecture, an assignment in writing from the lecturer should be sought for the content and the performance.
1) Copyright in any work created by an employee in the course of employment belongs to the employer. In keeping with normal academic custom, however, the University generally waives its claim to copyright in research publications.[1]
2) In these circumstances, individuals may publish these works to their own benefit. The University will automatically receive an implied worldwide royalty-free licence in perpetuity entitling it to use all such materials for internal educational and research purposes whilst recognising the author’s moral rights.
3) It is the responsibility of the individual academic to make any publisher, or any other party interested in the publication of such material, aware of this licence.
4) Where an individual academic requires a waiver of the licence to the University in clause 2 for the purpose of publication, a waiver may be granted upon application, by the PVC Research.
5) This discretionary waiver of claim copyright does not extend to works specifically commissioned by the University, to teaching materials [2] or to other copyright protected works with commercial potential. For additional information please see the University Intellectual Property Policy for further information.
6) For further clarification, contact legal.services@durham.ac.uk
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[1] Research publication includes textbooks, academic journal articles, conference papers and related presentations, theses and dissertations, popular non-fiction, novels and poems, but excludes any such materials or part of them which can be defined as Teaching Materials.
[2] Teaching Materials are defined as any materials, whether in written, recorded or other electronic form including web-based material, computer programs, computer based learning material and databases, produced by one or more members of staff in the course of their duties for use in or connection with a degree programme module or other course offered by the University. Textbooks, or other materials produced for publication that are not related to a particular course offered at Durham University, are excluded from the definition of Teaching Materials except where a member of staff has been specifically asked to write the material for a specific course. Personal lecture notes and other materials that are not routinely made available to students are also excluded from the definition of Teaching Materials.
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If you are looking for more information on this subject then click on the link below which will take you to an online interactive tutorial on best practise in Copyright & Plagiarism.
