Copyright

If the Library subscribes to or owns a digital version of an item, there is normally a licence. For:

• a specific journal, the licence agreement with the journal publisher is the relevant one.

• a journal database – such as Education Research Complete or Sport Discus – the license agreement with the database provider is the one to look at.

• an e-book, it is the license with the platform host or publisher.

Check by clicking the link for ‘Permitted Uses for this Database’ on the Library’s A-Z list of databases for details, or ask your academic service librarian.

We use the Copyright Licensing Agency’s Higher Education Licence for UUK/GuildHE members which largely covers photocopying and scanning of material. It is the relevant licence for most published materials that staff might hand out to their class or include on Moodle.

• Broadly, you can copy:

  • Up to one chapter of a book

  • o Up to two whole articles from a single issue of a journal or set of conference proceedings (where the issue, or a substantial part of it, is dedicated to a particular theme, you can copy any number of articles dealing with that particular theme)

  • One short story or poem not exceeding 10 pages in length from an anthology

  • One complete case report from a published report of judicial proceedings

  • Or 10% of the whole publication

• For digital publications, the same limits apply. If that is difficult to gauge – such as on a website – you are required to use your best judgement to copy only reasonable extracts.

• You may copy these items to distribute to each member of a class, together with the class tutor.

• You may have a copy scanned to include on Moodle.

• You may have a copy scanned to include on your Moodle module. If a scanned copy is made from a print original, we do this for you in the Library. Check our Scanning service page.

• These limits apply to a single module. You can use the same item in a different module if you let us know about it, or you can use a different chapter / article if it is for a different module – but you must stick to these limits for each separate module.

• These limits generally apply to UK published sources. There can be significant variations for non-British sources.

• The CLA has a list of ‘exclusions’ – items and categories of material that cannot be used under the terms of this license. Some are surprising; for example, you can’t use any of the works by the writer J.D. Salinger or the Simpsons-creator Matt Groening. There's a list of publishers with exclusions and individual authors with exclusions but you should also use the Check Permissions service, available throughout the CLA site, to check permissions for a specific item.

• For occasional copying of newspaper articles

• We subscribe to the NLA Basic Licence which does not cover systematic copying – such as maintaining a press-cuttings or clippings collection.

• Allows you to record broadcasts from free-to-air broadcasters for use in teaching, including adding them to Moodle, or adding them to Library collections, and permits the use of catch-up services, such as Channel 4, BBC iPlayer, ITVX, UKTV Play etc.

• Broadcasts must be recorded appropriately, and the recording must be appropriately labelled – either physically or electronically – with the date of the broadcast, the name of the broadcaster and the title of the programme, together with the words: ‘This recording is to be used only for educational and non-commercial purposes under the terms of the ERA Licence’.

• The ERA provides FAQ pages and a licence terms summary on its website.