Copyright
These pages are dedicated to helping students learn how to use others’ materials safely and responsibly, ensuring the respect of intellectual property rights and enhancing their work.
Copyright is a type of intellectual property, like trademarks and patents. It’s crucial when using or sharing third-party material and prevents copying or altering material without permission.
Your responsibility is to comply with copyright law and select material that is legally accessible and reusable as intended.
Original works are protected by law, even without the © symbol or official registration.
Educational material is not exempt from copyright law. It’s important to understand how copyright affects the re-use of third-party material, even for learning.
The current UK law is the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act (CDPA) 1988.
UK law allows specific limited use of copyrighted works without permission (exceptions to copyright), but this varies globally.
What is copyrightable?
- Literary, dramatic, musical, or artistic works, including books, periodicals, etc.
- Films, sound recordings, broadcasts, cable programmes and computer-generated works.
- Publishers’ copyright of typographical arrangements.
- Translations, adaptations, music arrangements and alterations of literary and artistic works.
- Applied art and industrial designs and models.
- Computer software.
- Databases.
Facts or ideas are not copyrightable; their expression is only subject to protection.
Who Owns Your Intellectual Property?
The copyright owner in any work is the creator unless it was created under contracted terms. Referring to the student agreement you signed when you enrolled in your course as a student, you agreed that,
"...any intellectual property (IP) developed with significant input from University staff and resources or as part of a collective project must be assigned to the University (outlined in General Regulations Appendix 12).
The University will not claim IP that you have developed independently..."
If you are in doubt, ask your tutor or your Academic Liaison Librarian.
Most material you may want to copy is likely protected by copyright, with multiple potential claims from authors, publishers, illustrators, etc.
Coventry University
Frederick Lanchester Building
Gosford Street
Coventry, United Kingdom
CV1 5DD
Telephone:+44 (0) 24 7765 7575
Email: ask-a-librarian.lib@coventry.ac.uk
