Section 10 Supplementary Information

Section 10 Supplementary information

What is copyright?

Copyright is part of the set of legal rights and regulations known as intellectual property rights, as defined in the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. Copyright exists to protect the creators of certain types of work from being exploited. It gives the creator the following rights:

Economic rights: to control the use of their work through, for example, making copies, issuing copies to the public, public performance, broadcasting, and use online.
Moral rights: to be identified as the creator of their work, and the right to object to any distortion or mutilation of it.
Economic reward: in recognition of their creative skill and investment of time, and to encourage future creativity and development.

There is no formal registration system to declare copyright on a piece of work in the UK – copyright protection automatically exists once there is a record of any form to show that the material, such as a manuscript or a computer program, has been created.

What is protected by copyright?

The following types of material – known as ‘works’:

Original literary works such as novels, newspaper articles, song lyrics, instruction manuals, computer programs and some types of database.
Original dramatic works, including dance and mime.
Original musical works.
Original artistic works such as paintings, drawings, engravings, sculptures, photographs, diagrams, maps, works of architecture and works of artistic craftsmanship.
Published editions of literary, dramatic or musical works.
Sound recordings in any format – they can be recordings of other copyright works, such as music or literature, or other sounds.
Films, including videos and DVDs.
Broadcasts and cable programmes.
Works stored in an electronic medium.

Ideas: unless they are expressed in the form of a work, such as in a book.
Titles and names: these can be protected by the use of trade marks.
Designs: these can be protected by the use of design marks.
Inventions: these can be protected by the use of design marks.

Who owns copyright?

Literary, dramatic, artistic and musical works:the person who created the work – the author – is the first owner of the economic rights.
Publications:the publisher is the author and first owner of the economic rights.
Sound recordings:the record producer is the author and first owner of the economic rights.
Films: the principal director and the film producer are the joint authors, and are therefore the first owners of the economic rights.
Broadcasts:the broadcaster is the author and first owner of the economic rights.
Publications:the publisher is the author and first owner of the economic rights.
Commissioned works:the author is the first owner of the economic rights unless prior agreement is made to state otherwise.
Work produced during the course of employment:the employer is the first owner of the economic rights unless an alternative agreement is made with the author of the work.

Copyright is treated as a form of property, and economic rights can be sold, bought, transferred or inherited. However, the moral rights for literary, dramatic, artistic, musical and films works remain with the author and will be passed down to the heir upon death.

How long does copyright last?

This depends on the type of copyright work, but generally UK protection rights are:

Literary, dramatic, artistic and musical works:lasts for the life of the author plus 70 years from the end of the year in which they died. If the work has not been published by this time, and is subsequently made available to the public, it may then be protected by the publication right.
Publications: expires 25 years from the end of the year in which the edition was first published.
Sound recordings:expires 50 years from the end of the year in which the recording was made or, if released within this time, 50 years from the end of the year of release.
Films:expires 70 years after the end of the year of the death of the last to survive of the principal director, the authors of the screenplay and dialogue, and the composer of any music specially created for the film. If the work has not been published by this time, and is subsequently made available to the public, it may then be protected by the publication right.
Broadcasts:expires 50 years from the end of the year when the broadcast was made or the cable programme was included in a cable programme service.
Databases:expires 15 years from the end of the year in which the database was made, or 15 years from the publication date if it is published within 15 years of creation.

What copyright exemptions are there?

The ‘fair dealing’ exemptions within the Copyright Act allow for a reasonable amount of material under copyright to be reproduced without the permission of the owner, but copying must be for:

research or private study
criticism or review
reporting of news and current events
teaching in educational establishments.

To create multiple copies, or to copy large amounts of material, however, you may still need to obtain permission from the copyright owner.

Copyright and the internet

Under UK law, material under copyright that is uploaded to and downloaded from the internet, or stored on web servers, is protected in the same way as material in other media. Web pages and text-based articles on them are classed as literary works, graphics and images are classed as artistic works, and sound files are recordings and are therefore classed as musical works. Therefore each web page within a site may contain several different items protected by copyright, and the permission of the copyright owner is required for each act of copying.

Saving a copy of an electronic document to disk or printing it requires the permission of the copyright owner in the same way as paper copying does. Copyright information is usually made available on websites, but where the permitted use is not defined or is severely restricted, clarification and permission should always be obtained by contacting the website owner or the webmaster.

Software copyright legislation

Legislation exists to provide software developers with the same legal protection as that provided to the authors of published, written and musical materials. When you purchase a computer program (operating system, application software, or game), what you are really purchasing is the right to use the software subject to a specific set of criteria.

The penalties for infringing software copyright laws can be very severe, and the details of the licence provided with the software will clearly state exactly what the user is permitted to do. The main types of software licence are:

Single-user licence:permits the user to install one copy of the software onto a single computer on which the software will be run. With the increased use of portable computers such as laptops, some single-user software licences will permit the user to install the software onto two computers, provided they are not used simultaneously.
Multi-user licence:permits the user to install the software on more than one computer. The licence will clearly state how many computers the software can be installed on. Instead of purchasing multiple copies of the software and licence, the organisation may purchase one copy of the software with a licence to install the software onto the specified number of computers.
Site licence:similar to the multi-user licence, but it permits the organisation to run a software program on all the computers located on one site. This type of licence is also required if the software is to be installed onto a file server and accessed by multiple users across a network. In the case of a site licence, the licence purchased would have to cover the likely maximum number of users.

See also the Ferl Practitioners' Programme information sheet Types of software licence within this section.

End-user licence agreement

The software licence is often referred to as the end-user licence agreement (EULA), and full details of the licence will be supplied with the software, either on the packaging, in the user guide, on screen during installation, or in all of these locations. Points to consider regarding the EULA include:

During the process of installing the software onto a computer, the user must enter their own and/or the company’s name, and confirm that they have read and accepted the licence agreement. Without this confirmation of acceptance, installation will not be completed. By installing and using the software, the user agrees to all the conditions stated in the EULA, unless these breach the user’s statutory rights.
Software cannot be loaned to a third party, as that would require an unlawful installation of the software to be made for it to be run by the third party.
Under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 and Copyright (Computer Programs) Regulations 1992, the user of a legitimately purchased software product has the statutory right to make a single copy of the software for backup purposes. The regulations also state that if the software is given away, it must be uninstalled and the backup copy must also be deleted.
In the absence of copyright information, or if a particular use of the software is not covered in the licence agreement, the copyright situation should always be clarified by contacting the publisher of the software. The absence of information cannot be taken to constitute permission.
The EULA will usually:

define how many computers the software may legally be installed and used on

state that the software must be uninstalled and the backup copy deleted if the software is given to another user

define the extent to which the content may be used in other applications or for other purposes, and the conditions under which this is allowed

define whether any of the code or parts of the software may be modified or used for other purposes.

Frequently asked questions from tutors regarding copyright work

Q. How do I obtain permission to use copyright material?

You need to approach the copyright owner to request a licence to cover the use required. This licence is a contract between the intended user and the copyright owner, and both parties must negotiate and agree the terms and conditions, including the payment or royalty, if any, for use.

Q. I created a new online learning activity to use in my sessions – does this mean I can claim copyright on it?

Copyright work must be original and, generally speaking, exhibit a significant degree of creative skill, labour and investment.

Also, although you are the ‘author’ of the work, if you produced the activity as an employee, then your employer is the owner of the copyright on the work, unless you made an alternative arrangement with them, or there is anything in your contract of employment to state otherwise.

Q. I am the author, how do I declare copyright on an activity I have created?

Mark it with the word ‘copyright’ followed by your name and the year of production. It is not a requirement in the UK that the international copyright symbol – © – is used, but its inclusion may be beneficial in any legal proceedings against infringement.

Q. How do I prove that the copyright on a piece of work is mine?

Copyright protection automatically exists once there is a record of any form to show that the material has been created. There are a couple of things you can do to prove when you created a piece of work, but in a case of copyright infringement they will not actually prove that yours was the original work, only that you had a copy of the work at the date of posting or deposit:

Mark a copy of the work with the word ‘copyright’ and your name and the year of production.
Send the copy to yourself by registered post.
Keep the unopened package and the certificate of posting.
Mark a copy of the work with the word ‘copyright’ and your name and the year of production.
Give a sealed copy of it to your solicitor or bank.

The package should only be opened in the presence of witnesses in the event of a dispute.

Q. What do I do if I find a copy of my work being used without my permission?

You will have to enforce your own copyright. You may find that by contacting the individual or organisation infringing the copyright you will resolve the problem, otherwise you should seek advice from a lawyer.

Q. Can my students or I use copyright material from the internet?

This will depend on whether the material has been put on the internet with the copyright owner’s permission, and what their terms of use for the material are. Check the site for a copyright notice that will tell you exactly what you are allowed to do with the material. Otherwise you will need to contact the site’s owner or webmaster to obtain permission. There are exemptions to copyright which may apply to your use of the material – see ‘What copyright exemptions are there?’, above, for more information.

Q. Can I scan in the textbook I normally use so that my students can print off copies of the relevant chapters?

No. Scanning a work to produce an electronic copy or downloading a work which is in electronic format both involve copying the work, so permission from the copyright owner would be required.

Q. What about scanning in last year’s external exam questions so that my students can use them?

No. Again, you are copying a work so permission would be required. By contacting the examining board who issued the questions, you will probably be given permission to reproduce a percentage of the paper electronically, but it is unlikely that you will be given permission to reproduce the whole paper.

Q. Are there any teaching resources about copyright?

The Intellectual Property website [
teaching_resources.htm] contains details of a teaching resource that includes an interactive game about copyright and downloading material from the internet, designed to help people understand what they can do. There are a lot of resources on the internet – try searching for more using a search engine.

Q. What if I see something on the internet that I like, and then create my own version of it?

There is nothing to stop you using the internet to find information, get ideas and then create your own material. Provided the material you produce is not copied from anywhere, you can then claim copyright on it.

Q. What exemptions to copyright apply to the use of copyright material on the internet?

There are no specific exemptions to copyright applying to the use of copyright material on the internet, but as the material is considered to be a published work, many of the general copyright exemptions – such as fair dealing or the educational exemptions – might apply. For example:

Fair dealing for the purposes of research or private study might apply to a student who downloads and uses material in their own work, but it would be unlikely to cover the tutor giving the same material to all the students in a class, and putting the material on an intranet.
Fair dealing for the purposes of criticism or review might apply where short passages or extracts of copyright materials are put on an intranet or another internet website for these purposes.
The making of reprographic copies of published literary material by an educational establishment for the purposes of instruction might permit copies of material to be legally downloaded and made available to the whole class. But it does not allow more than 1 per cent of any copyright material to be copied, and does not apply at all if the reprography is licensed. (The Copyright Licensing Agency [ can provide a licence covering the copying of large amounts of published material.)

Q. Is all the material you find on the internet there legally?

No. There is a lot of copyright material – such as music, images and software – that has been uploaded to the internet without the copyright owner’s permission. If you then use this material in any way, then that too is illegal.

Q. If I find something on the internet, and there is no copyright notice, can I still use it?

No. You should always seek permission from the copyright owner, site owner, or webmaster, otherwise your use of it may be illegal.

Q. What should I do if I find illegal copies of copyright material on the internet?

You should think about reporting it so that the material and/or the website can be removed. The Copyright Licensing Agency [ runs a Copywatch scheme [ to prevent copyright infringement.

Also, do not use the material yourself either – by downloading it, you will be guilty of making an illegal copy too.

Q. I want to put my students’ end-of-year art projects onto our college internet site to showcase them. Can I do this, and also protect their rights?