Library Subject Guides
Our Practical Guide is designed to help you use the Reading Lists software, which helps provide course reading to students.
The Library offers a Digitisation Service for module leaders and tutors - staff will create a licensed digital copy for you, and link it to your reading list on Yorkshare. You may tag any reference on your reading list with a Digitisation Request, and staff will ensure it complies with CLA Licence terms:
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A CLA cover notice will be attached to the digitised extract, which will only be accessible to students registered on the module.
If your request relates to a publication which isn't stocked by the Library, staff will purchase a digital copy of the extract required, with any copyright fee paid.
If the work you want to copy is not covered by the CLA License, then the Library will contact you and offer their Permissions Clearance service
Digital copies made by the Library are fully machine readable for use with accessibility software. If specific students on your module need to have printed texts converted into an accessible format, please indicate on your reading list so that the Library can take the necessary steps.
A teacher or a student can reproduce an extract from a copyright work for the purposes of "giving or receiving instruction", with full attribution. Scenarios covered include lectures (in person or recorded), e-learning materials and classroom handouts, student assignments and exams.
'Instruction' can take place anywhere, with any audience, providing there's no direct charge to participate.
Your use must be defensible as "fair dealing":
with no impact on the rights-holder's market — if you are copying from a published work, consider asking the Library to buy the original.
Copyright material which is published in a recorded lecture is likely to benefit from the same "fair dealing" exceptions as material used in the classroom (see above), providing the audience is restricted.
University of York lecturers should refer to the E-Learning Development Team's guidelines for the Replay lecture capture service.
If your recorded lecture may be made available to a wider audience, you should consider editing out any material which is not your own, unless it has an appropriate licence (e.g. CC-BY-NC).
UK higher education IT specialists JISC have produced a guide to Recording Lectures: Legal Considerations (2015).
University of York students viewing a recorded lecture or making a recording independently should be aware that sharing the recording with anyone other than your tutor may breach copyright on two counts:
Other people's copyright material which was included in the lecture may be licensed for classroom use only.
Furthermore, sharing a recording or photo of your lecturer without their permission could infringe their right to privacy (the same for any members of the audience who can be identified).
University of York students may find themselves subject to disciplinary procedures if they don't follow the University's guidelines for recording lectures.
Legitimate use of other people's copyrighted images for teaching activities (e.g. lecture slides) may be legally defensible as "Illustration for Instruction" (see Copyright law explained).
You should make sure to abide by 'fair dealing': your use of the image must have no impact on the market for the original (you should use a lower resolution or cropped version) and you must fully acknowledge the rights-holder (your image caption or credits should reiterate any copyright statement or licence terms indicated at the source, and state whether you have obtained any necessary permissions to use the image).
Ensure that your material is not shared outside the classroom (physical or virtual), or with anyone other than the markers in the case of assessed work. Take particular care to stay within the law and respect licence terms if you are giving a lecture which will be recorded, or intending to share your teaching materials on an open platform. University of York lecturers should read the Guidelines for the use of the Replay service.
Corporate logos can be particularly problematic as they are likely to be trademarked as well as protected by copyright, so you may need to contact the company for permission to use their logo in any work that's shared beyond the classroom.
Be aware that even your own photos of artworks and panoramas may not be risk-free: although an artist's copyright may have expired (usually 70 years after their death), the gallery may have a 'no photographs' policy which doesn't exempt educational use, or the country where you took the photo may impose legal restrictions on the reproduction of copyright material sited in public (including France, Italy and Greece).
Teachers and students are able to perform music or drama, play recorded music, or screen a film or TV broadcast, for an educational activity, without infringing copyright in the UK.
The Library, Archives and Learning Services Copyright Group has a position statement and guidance on using video content for educational purposes online (November 2021)
In addition to the Library's Audio-Visual Collection of CDs and DVDs, University of York staff and students have access to several online collections of film and music for use in teaching and research. The University of York holds the Educational Recording Agency (ERA) Licence, which covers most UK free-to-air TV channels and radio stations. Lecturers and tutors can upload their own recordings to the VLE for on-screen viewing in the UK, or take advantage of the British Universities' Film & Video Council's Box of Broadcasts for streaming, requesting and sharing recordings from ERA-licensed channels (see below).
The law does not cover inviting a non-University audience, charging for tickets, or recording the performance. To show a film or play music at a student society event, open lecture or other extra-curricular activity, you will need to apply for a licence from the appropriate agency.
Musical scores are not covered by the CLA Licence. Copyright law classes them as 'artistic works', protected by copyright until 70 years after the death of the composer. A new edition of the score acquires 'typographical' copyright protection for a further 25 years; editorial text and annotations (e.g. fingering, breathing marks) may be protected as a literary or artistic work.
The Music Publishers' Association has issued a Code of Fair Practice for copying sheet music (2016):
Bona fide students or teachers, whether they are in an educational establishment or not, may without application to the copyright owner make copies of short excerpts of musical works provided that they are for study only (not performance). Copying whole movements or whole works is expressly forbidden under this permission. Each copy must be marked with the following: ‘Copy for study only’.
The copyright guidance presented here is for general information only and does not constitute legal advice.
The University accepts no liability for any errors, omissions, or misleading statements in these pages, or for any loss which may arise from reliance on materials contained in these pages.