Open Research and Scholarly Publications (NEW): Third Party Content

The Research Publications and Rights Retention Standard does not apply to any third-party content included within your published paper and in the AAM that will be deposited into Pure and made available under a CC-BY licence v4.0.

Where third-party material is included, the terms / licence under which this content has been published should be clearly stated in regard to this content. This may include your previous works if you have signed a Copyright Transfer Agreement or an Exclusive Licence to Publish contract with a publisher.

How can I copy third-party material legally?

There are a number of ways you can include third-party material in your work:

• Seek written permission from the rightsholder, You will need to be clear about the purpose and explain the OA conditions of your AAM in Pure as well as the conditions your published version will be available under. For more information about seeking permission, please see our Copyright page.
• Use third-party content that is not under copyright protection, either because the copyright protection has expired and is now in the public domain or because the creator has put their work in the public domain under a Creative Commons Zero (CC0) or equivalent licence.
• Use material licenced under a Creative Commons or Open Government Licence.  You will need to make sure that your licence fits within the terms of the licence that covers the material you want to use. If not, you will need to seek written copyright permission.
• Use the copyright exception "Criticism, Review, Quotation and News Reporting" (Section 30, Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988). You will need to ensure that your use is fair and that you have used no more that is necessary to make your point. This exception only applies to previously published works and you must provide sufficient acknowledgement to the author and the source.  As there is an element of risk involved in using copyright exceptions and fair dealing, discussing your intended use with your publisher is recommended.

If the rightsholder denies permission to use third-party content in your paper, or you do not receive a response to your request for permission, then you must not use it.  

If the rightsholder grants permission, but only under a more restrictive licence, you would be able to include the third-party content as per the rightsholder's requirements.  You will need to clearly indicate in your manuscript details of the copyright holder and the terms under which the third-party content has been released. Be clear that the CC-BY licence does not apply to this content. 

Example statement: [Title of third-party content] © [Rightsholder, year]. All Rights Reserved. Permission for re-use should be sought from the rightsholder.

The OAPEN Open Access Books Toolkit provides a useful guide for more information.

What if I am unable to gain permission for use in my AAM?

If you are unable to obtain permission for the use of third-party content in your AAM with a CC-BY, you can either

• Decide not to use the material at all.
• Redact the material from the AAM deposited in Pure. You will need to provide a brief description, links and references to the removed content.
• Consider opting out of the Research Publications and Rights Retention Standard. You will still need to deposit your AAM in Pure, but you could apply a different CC Licence if appropriate.  Please contact rightsretention@coventry.ac.uk to discuss further.

If you are in receipt of funding from a grant organisation that supports RR, you would need to check the grant conditions to ensure you are compliant. 

UKRI have produced a guidance document to help researchers who are in receipt of UKRI funding. Though this has been written primarily for UKRI grant holders, it provides useful guidance for any researcher wanting to manage third-party content in their research.

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