Copyright guidance

 

 

 

 

The CLA Higher Education licence covers most books and journals published in the UK, Ireland, the USA, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa, most European countries, and a range of International Terriitories. There are some exceptions to this, and the best way to be certain whether your item is covered is to use the Check Permissions search tool on the CLA Higher Education Licence page. Publishers may also opt to print prominently on their publication that they do not participate in CLA.

May I create a course reader to be handed out to every student? 

Yes, on the same terms as the first answer above. All items must comply with the CLA terms, or be separately cleared with the publisher. You may also recover your costs from students if you wish.

The licence is not intended to enable course packs to become direct substitutes for textbooks.

Yes, if it falls under the terms of our Newspaper Licensing Agency license (now provided for us by the CLA). The scheme covers all UK national newspapers and selected regional papers. Use the Check Permissions search tool on the CLA Higher Education Licence page to see if the newspaper you want is covered by the HE Licence.

May I place a photocopy of a book chapter or a journal article in the library's Reserve Collection for the students to read and copy? 

Yes, but the CLA photocopying conditions apply here also. This is viewed as likely to encourage copying from a copy, and is only permitted for items covered under the same terms as the CLA Higher Education licence, and which are owned by the institution. 

For other CLA items, but which we do not own, it will be permissible if we can obtain a copyright-cleared copy from the British Library, otherwise publisher permission would have to be explicitly sought. 

An explanatory cover sheet should be attached to all photocopied items in the Reserve Collection.

Yes, but the same extra restrictions apply as in the answer above. All items in the course reader must comply with these terms.

Possibly, but you would need to be certain that the source publication is covered under the CLA Higher Education licence, or that the publisher specifically permits it. The library can advise you on this. On the whole it may well be simpler just to provide linking information to the online journal.  Please see our Library helpsheet on Adding library e-resource links to Moodle for help with this​.

Yes, we may be allowed to do this, but generally under specific conditions, and the university's Disability & Inclusion team will normally handle such requests.  An item that a visually-impaired person is able to lawfully use may be copied into an accessible format, e.g. Braille, tape recording, large print, provided there is no suitable commercially-available format that could be purchased instead. The institution should own a copy of the original published edition.

Do we have to keep records of copying made under the CLA Higher Education licence? 

No, but the CLA can select institutions to take part in surveys of all material copied under the scheme.

Yes. You may record broadcasts from terrestrial TV, freeview, cable & satellite or radio. 

Merchiston Library staff can also make recordings for you, subject to recording capacity, if you give us a few days warning. We regret we currently have no facilities for recording from cable or satellite. Any recordings that are to be kept must be labelled in accordance with our ERA licence - more information at the Education Recording Agency (ERA) website. We regret we are not able to record material for you for other purposes than for library stock, or to be added to the TV Recordings section of the Online Video Server.

Broadcasts must not be adapted, though extracts may be made. Credits should be included. The ERA license does not permit the capture of film stills even for educational purposes, as they then become visual images, which are subject to different copyright rules. Internet broadcasts may be captured if they are broadcast at scheduled times, and it is also now permitted to download from the BBC and Channel 4 catch-up services.  Permission may need to be sought for any other services.
 

Staff and students can borrow recordings from the library, providing they agree to abide by the regulations:

• educational use only, no copying of recordings, no commercial use.

We are also now adding recordings to the University's Online Video Service - to see these you need to log in to the service and search for TV Recordings.  These can be viewed remotely by staff and students, but please note that recordings may not be made available to overseas students by any means.

Yes, providing it is for educational purposes rather than recreational. Recordings should not be copied, you should use the originals, or off-air recordings provided by the Library.

Yes, you may copy or download illustrations and put them in a PowerPoint presentation or project by other means, or in a lecture if you acknowledge the source.  

If you want to include them in handouts via Moodle this is regarded as multiple distribution, and you should follow the procedures outlined in our page on Digital Copying for Moodle.  For items that fall outside the CLA licence, you should ensure you have permission to use the images in the way you intend.