Copyright: Electronic Resources

All electronic resources such as e-journals and e-books are covered by UK copyright legislation. They are also covered by licenses. Both place restrictions on what you are allowed to copy and what you are allowed to do with those copies. In brief, you can usually:

• read material on screen
• download an article from an issue of a journal or a chapter of a book for your own personal use, for research or private study
• provide a link to the resource for your students, provided it is accompanied by this same advice

You are not permitted to:

• download and make the material available on a network to be accessed by others including within any VLE eg. Moodle 
• use the material for any commercial purpose
• share the material with any unauthorized users. This usually means anyone who isn't a registered member of staff or student
• change the material in any way, including any copyright statements attached to it
• make more than one copy or printout of any one article or chapter or any excessive amount of copying from a single book or journal issue

It is your responsibility to read the license restrictions for any resources before using them. 

Copying from the Internet

Despite appearances almost everything on the internet will be protected by copyright. Just because there is no copyright statement does not mean you are allowed to copy it. 

You can usually:

• download or print an insubstantial part of such material for your own research or private study, providing it is not for commercial purposes
• provide links to other web sites but you should always link to the homepage of the site where copyright notices or other important information is likely to be found. If you do want to deep link to pages below the home page, you are strongly advised to seek permission of the owner of the site.

You must not: 

• share any information copied or downloaded from the internet across a network or VLE eg. Moodle without the direct permission of the rights holder
• suggest that because you have provided a link to your students that they have the right to copy this information without permission. You and they need to be sure you know what permission you have for any website you make available to them or warn them they are responsible for checking what copyright permission they have if they wish to copy material
• make inappropriate or derogatory references to any site which will infringe the moral rights of the copyright owner 

Placing copyright material in Moodle or on a network (VLE)

The exceptions for copying for instructions referred in other pages do not apply to presentations that will be made across a network. You should only place information in a Powerpoint or other presentation, on a network or in Moodle where it will be available to others:

• If you own the copyright
• you have the permission of the copyright owner
• the copyright has lapsed
• you are doing so under the terms of the CLA HE Licence

If you require any item, chapter or article to be digitised for a reading list module please see the CLA Higher Education License and Digitisation Service guide or contact your subject librarian 

Coventry University  holds an ERA licence which enables you to use programmes for educational purposes only from free-to-air television and radio channels, i.e. BBC, ITV, C4, Channel 5 and S4C, the majority of these programmes will be available for you to use on Box of Broadcasts (BoB). It does not include any pay-per-view or satellite channels. You can, under the terms of this licence show programmes in lectures, tutorials etc and create clips or extracts to embed in presentations or PowerPoints. Copies can only be made available if they are:

• for educational purposes 
• for students and staff of the university 
• not for profit 

See the Box of Broadcasts (Bob) Libguide.

Most Images, including illustrations, diagrams and models on the internet in any format will be covered by copyright. Unless you have the permission of the copyright owner you should not place images on to a web site or on Moodle that will make them available to others. There are however, a number of sites that provide images for free. Here is one example https://free-images.com/

• To note: We do not take any responsibility for information on any external websites

Normally commercially available music cannot be copied in any circumstances without the written permission of the rights holder.

Teachers and students are able to perform music or drama, play recorded music, or screen a film or TV broadcast, for an educational activity, or use an extract of a film, music, broadcast etc..to illustrate a teaching point, without infringing copyright in the UK.  But the law does not cover inviting a non-University audience, charging for tickets, or recording the performance. The source must be owned or subscribed to by the University.