Our best advice to answer these ....
May I photocopy an article from a journal to use for my assignment / research?
Yes, under the
Fair Dealing provisions you may make one copy of one article or up to 5% of a journal issue. You may not make copies for any commercial gain for yourself or for a company. You should acknowledge any quotations or ideas you use from it. Some older material may be out of copyright - see our
Copyright - The Facts pages for more information.
May I photocopy a chapter of a book to use for my assignment / research?
Yes, under the
Fair Dealing provisions you may make one copy of up to 5% of a book, or one chapter, for private study or research. You may not make copies for any commercial gain for yourself or for a company. You should acknowledge any quotations or ideas you use from it. Some older material may be out of copyright - see
Copyright - The Facts.
"Fair dealing" applies principally to literary, artistic, dramatic and musical works. It is a general permission to copy small amounts that do not harm the interests of copyright holders, for certain specific purposes only. There are no exact limits as to how much may be copied, but safe guidelines might be one copy of up to 5% or one chapter or a book, or one journal article. For short books it may be acceptable to copy up to 10%, provided the extract is not more than 20 pages. For films or music it might be fair to copy extracts, but not the whole thing.
Acceptable purposes are:
- copying for private study;
- research for non-commercial purposes;
- copying for criticism or review;
- news reporting (but not photographs).
Copies must be acknowledged as far as is practicable.
Fair dealing now applies to all types of copyright materials including music and films.
May I photocopy a poem or a short story for my assignment / research?
These are complete in themselves, so should not be copied without permission.
However, in an anthology, a short story or poem of up to 10 pages may be copied under the
Fair Dealing provisions.
Poems by authors who are out of copyright can be freely copied if the collection was published more than 25 years ago.
May I photocopy a newspaper article for my assignment / research?
Yes, you may make a copy of a single article from a newspaper for study purposes.
May I photocopy or scan a photograph for study use?
Yes, under the
Fair Dealing provisions you may make one copy from artistic works for private study or research, including copies from the internet. Images in copyright should not be adapted or altered. There are no precise limits on the amount you may copy, but it should not "harm or prejudice the interests of rights holders".
May I photocopy or scan maps and charts for study use?
Yes, under the
Fair Dealing provisions you may make up to 4 copies of a single extract from an Ordnance Survey map, not larger than A4, and not enlarged. This also applies to OS digital mapping. Ordnance Survey maps older than 50 years may be freely copied.
If this level of copying does not meet your needs, or if you wish to download maps, please use the Digimap service. Go to LibrarySearch, click the Databases tab at the top, search for Digimap and click through. You must register with Digimap to use the service.
May I photocopy or scan printed music for study use?
Music can now be copied up to the same limits as other text materials. The copying of whole movements or works is forbidden. Some older material may be out of copyright, see below.
Copying entire pieces of music for use in performance exams is not normally permitted.
May I copy CDs, videos or DVDs for study use?
Recorded music and sound can now be copied up to the same limits as text materials. You should ensure that any works you are copying are not infringing copyright in the first place.
May I download music or films to my data area?
You should ensure that anything you download from the internet is legal, i.e. you have paid for it, or you have the permission of the copyright owner. Format shifting of items you have bought yourself is now permitted. See also the Information Services guidelines on acceptable uses of your data area.
May I share materials I have copied with friends?
It is probably OK for others to read material you have copied, but you should not make any further copies or share materials online
May I copy computer programs?
No, not normally, though it is OK to make a backup copy of a computer program that you own for the purposes of replacing it if it becomes corrupted.
May I print out pages from the internet for study use?
Yes, normally, unless the page says otherwise. If the material is copyrighted it is advisable to stick to the same guidelines as you would with print.
May I copy material from the internet onto my own web pages?
No, this is not recommended unless you have the permission of the original author. Small amounts of re-keyed text may be OK, e.g. for quotation purposes, if you acknowledge the source.
Is it OK to use items I have copied under the Fair Dealing limits in coursework or portfolios?
Yes, this would normally be OK, but you should bear in mind that once you leave education, anything you want to do with your portfolio would no longer be covered by the special educational permissions.
Plagiarism is copying someone else's work or ideas and passing them off as your own without acknowledging the source.
There are many levels of plagiarism, some are worse than others. See the university's skills guide on
Academic Integrity and handling evidence for more information.
Disclaimer
Please note these pages are intended to offer guidance on the things we think you really need to know about copyright, for print and electronic resources. We are not legal experts, information given on this page is believed to be accurate, but advice is taken at your own risk. Please inform us if you believe anything on these pages is incorrect.
The information provided relates only to Edinburgh Napier University staff and students, other members of the library may be subject to different conditions.
