What is copyright?
Copyright is part of a wider set of intellectual property rights which offer protection and certain exclusive rights to the owner(s) of the rights in a work. The owner can decide who is allowed to copy and share their work and how.
In the UK the key piece of legislation is the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 (CDPA).
Which types of content are covered by copyright?
Copyright only applies to works in a fixed form, so ideas are not protected until written down or otherwise recorded. The work must also be sufficiently original and exhibit some degree of labour, skill or personal judgement in its creation. Facts are not covered by copyright.
The following attract copyright:
- Literary works: books, poems, journal and newspaper articles, song lyrics, computer programs, databases.
- Dramatic works: dance and mime.
- Musical works: music scores - the lyrics are considered literary works.
- Artistic works: paintings, drawings, photographs, maps, diagrams, engravings, sculptures and architecture.
- Sound recordings: original songs, soundtracks (film or advert), instrumental music and more.
- Film: cinema films but also home videos or anything recorded on any medium from which a moving image can be produced.
- Broadcasts: transmitted images, sound or other information that can be received by members of the public.
- Typographical arrangements such as those found on a book cover, a film poster, or within a published edition of a literary, musical or dramatic work.
Who owns copyright?
The author or creator of a work is usually the first copyright owner, although if the work has been made in the course of a person’s employment, the default position in law is that the employer owns the copyright. The first copyright owner can either assign (transfer) or license copyright in a work to others.
Under LSE’s Intellectual Property (IP) Policy students own the copyright in their own work, and academic staff own the copyright in both their scholarly work (eg, journal articles, monographs) and teaching materials created whilst working at LSE. There are exceptions to this; read the School’s Intellectual Property Policy for details.
What rights do I have as a copyright holder?
As the copyright holder, you have certain exclusive rights, and (with some exceptions) your permission is needed for the following acts:
- Reproduction: copying the work, including photocopying, scanning, downloading.
- Distribution: issuing copies of the work to the public in print or online (this also covers rental and lending of the work).
- Public performance: includes performing, transmitting or broadcasting a work to the public.
- Adaptation: adapting the work.
As well as these economic rights, as a copyright holder you also possess moral rights, which means that you have the right to be identified as the rights holder and to object to derogatory treatment of your work.
How long does copyright last?
Copyright is territorial, which means that the law is not the same across all countries. The Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works outlines copyright principles, with signatories agreeing to respect each other’s copyrighted works. The majority of countries globally have signed the convention, providing a degree of consistency across borders.
In the UK the standard copyright term is the life of the creator plus 70 years, although there are a number of variations to this depending on the type of work, whether it is published or unpublished, and when it was created. The Intellectual Property Office provides further information on duration of copyright. Once the copyright term in a work has expired, it will enter the Public Domain and can be re-used freely.
What is copyright infringement?
If you copy or share someone else’s work without their permission – and what you have done is not covered by a licence or a copyright exception - that is copyright infringement.
Exceptions in law permit you to use part of an in-copyright work without securing permission from the copyright holder. However, what counts as a fair amount is not fixed and is open to interpretation.
Should you infringe copyright, the consequences may include having to remove the file/s which infringe/s copyright, reputational damage to the School, and financial penalties.
What should I do if I am accused of infringing copyright?
If you are contacted by someone in relation to your university work, and they ask for payment and/or for the University to take action, contact LSE’s Legal Team. They will check whether the infringement claim is valid and will advise on next steps.
Using other people’s work (3rd party copyright)
There are three main ways in which you can legally re-use other people’s work.
1. By asking for permission from the copyright holder (please note that this is not necessarily the original author/creator).
2. By making use of a licence (such as the CLA’s Higher Education licence)
3. By relying on one of the permitted acts within the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, these are also known as copyright exceptions.
Asking for permission
When asking for permission for re-use, it is important to be clear what part of the copyrighted work you wish to re-use and for what purpose. It is also good practice to ask the copyright holder how they would like their work to be attributed. Please note that the copyright holder may be a publisher, rather than the original author.
Licensing
See our licensing guidance page for more detail on the licenses LSE holds, and on Creative Commons licensing.
Exceptions
Whilst licences are useful for providing explicit permission for reuse of copyright works, not all in-copyright works are covered by licence, or may be appropriate for the way you wish to use the work. Exceptions to copyright allow use of copyright material in certain circumstances without needing permission, or relying on a licence.
Fair dealing
Many copyright exceptions involve a test of fair dealing. This means that you need to think about whether your use of someone else’s work is fair. It can be useful to consider whether, if you were the copyright holder, you would think that the way you are re-using a work is fair. It’s possible for the re-use of a small part of a work to be seen as substantial if it’s an important part of that work, such as a particularly well-known lyric or a report summary.
Factors to consider when deciding on whether re-use of a work is fair include:
- Whether using the work affects the market for the original work. If the way you are using the work acts as a substitute for it and causes the owner to lose income, it is not likely to be fair.
- Whether the amount of the work taken is reasonable and appropriate. Have you used more of the work than you need to for your purpose?
Deciding on whether your re-use is fair dealing needs to be considered on a case-by-case basis. If you’re unsure, ask for advice.
Please note that fair dealing is not the same as the broader US legal concept of ‘fair use’.
Summary of relevant UK copyright exceptions
- Research or Private Study (Section 29): Allows students and researchers to make personal copies of extracts from books and journals, and copy images for non-commercial research or private study.
- Quotation (Section 30): Allows anyone to reproduce copyright works for the purpose of quotation where it is fair. This includes presenting extracts from books, journals, and musical works to students.
- Accessible Copying (Sections 31A-F): Allows individuals or institutions to provide equal access to copyright works for users with any type of disability. This includes digitising print material, format shifting text to audio, and creating subtitles for videos.
- Illustration for Instruction (Section 32): Allows teachers or students to use copyright work in teaching or study where the use is fair. This includes using text, images, music, or video in teaching slides and lecture recordings, and adding content to examination papers.*
- Educational Performance (Section 34): Allows copyright work to be performed, played, or shown in an educational setting. This includes screening a film in a lecture, playing musical sound recordings in class, and performance of a play in class.
- Recording of Broadcasts (Section 35): Allows educational establishments to record TV and radio broadcasts and make them available to students. This underpins the University’s use of BoB Online TV streaming service.
- Making Multiple Copies (Section 36): Allows educational institutions to copy up to 5% of a copyright work and supply multiple copies to students. This includes copying of book extracts not covered by the CLA licence and copying up to 5% of a film or sound recording and making it available to students on Moodle.
* It is not possible to rely on the ‘illustration for instruction’ exception for 3rd party copyrighted material if publishing work originally submitted for examination (eg, a thesis). It is important to check whether another exception can be relied upon, or whether permission for re-use needs to be sought prior to publication.
Exceptions information adapted from University of Kent Copyright Guidance, licensed under CC BY 4.0.
Managing risk
Exceptions cannot cover every instance of re-use, and there may be circumstances in which you need to secure the permission of the rightsholder. Interpretation of whether re-use is fair is subjective and this means that you may use a work even if you are not completely sure that the activity does not infringe copyright. To assess risk consider:
- How likely is it that what you’re doing infringes copyright?
- What practical steps can you take to limit risk?
- How likely is it that the copyright holder will discover your use?
- How likely is it that the copyright holder will object to your use?
- What would be the impact (financial and reputational) if the copyright holder decides to take action against you or the School?