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Copyright Law for Digital
Learning
Darius Whelan,
School of Law, University College Cork
IUA Enhancing Digital Teaching & Learning in Irish
Universities, June 2020

2.
References and
Resources
https://bit.ly/copyright_open_IUADigEd_June2020
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Sources of Copyright Law
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Berne Convention 1886
Copyright and Related Rights Act 2000
Information Society Directive 2001
Case-law of Irish and
European courts
Copyright and Other
Intellectual Property Law
Provisions Act 2019 Digital Single Market Directive 2019

4.
Educational Aspects of Copyright Law
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7Public Domain, COMMUNIA, 2017

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Copyright Law for Digital Teaching and Learning event, 2014, UCC
Image Credit: Patrick Rice, UCC

9.
Caution
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Copyright Law for
Education is complex
“Short answers” are not
always possible
Ideally, full-time copyright
officers in colleges could
help staff with copyright
queries
This talk is a Work in
Progress

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It is unlikely that you can ever be 100 per cent sure
that your teaching doesn’t infringe copyright in any
way, which is one of the biggest challenges around
communicating copyright issues to those designing
and delivering learning
Secker & Morrison - https://bit.ly/401-IE

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Revised relevant
sections of the Irish
Act may be viewed at
https://bit.ly/DW-IUA-
601

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Some copyright law terminology
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‘Literary work’
includes a book,
article, poem,
brochure, text on
websites,
computer
programs
‘Artistic work’
–
photographs,
diagrams,
paintings,
cartoons
‘Film’ –
includes
films, videos,
animated gifs
‘Sound
recording’ –
An MP3 file;
a recording
in any other
medium

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• Dramatic works …
• Musical Works …
• Broadcasts …
• Databases …
• Performances …
• Moral rights …
• Orphan works …
• Text and Data mining …

14.
COPYRIGHT
REVIEW
COMMITTEE
• Consultation Paper 2012
• Report 2013
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Ms Patricia McGovern, DFMG Solicitors, Dublin, Minister Seán Sherlock, Minister of
State for Research and Innovation, Dr Eoin O’Dell, TCD, Professor Steve Hedley,
UCC.

15.
The 2019 Amendments to Copyright
• Broader definition of Education
• Broader definition of Educational Establishment
• Specific provisions for Illustration for Education (s.57),
Distance Learning (s.57A), Use of work available through
Internet (s.57B)
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ICLA Licence
• ICLA Licence is recognised by law (Statutory Instrument), so is crucially
important
• Assuming your college has purchased an ICLA licence, this permits copying
and usage of some material subject to certain conditions
• Current Higher Education licence only deals with literary works and visual
and graphic representations when these are an integral part of the
published text.
• 10% of a book, or all of a journal article or poem
• The Act refers to 5%, but the ICLA HE licence extends to 10% (+ more
generous in other ways)
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• If the material is not covered in the licence, then you can’t avail of
s.57
• ‘Licence override’ in s.57C - An exemption provided in s. 57, 57A or
57B shall not apply where there is a licensing scheme certified
under s.173 that is applicable to the exemption concerned
• New ICLA licence and new Statutory Instrument expected in
Summer 2020
• It is expected that new licence will cover material by default, unless
on list of excluded works
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• New licence will apply mainly to literary works and images
which are integral to those works
• There may be a reporting obligation – colleges report
usage to ICLA (to enable distribution of fees to
publishers)
• New licence will not cover film/ video, which means
videos will be governed by the Act rather than the licence

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ICLA is preparing
guidance for colleges on
new licence
Colleges may approach
ICLA for discussions
about licence and
guidance

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• Focus today will be on using third-party content in Digital
Learning materials
• Third-party content is content produced by somebody other
than the lecturer, e.g.
• Four paragraphs from a journal article [literary work]
• A photograph or diagram [artistic work]
• A video [film]

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• In examples which follow, it will be assumed that work is used
• For non-commercial educational purposes
• With acknowledgement of the source
• In an ‘educational establishment’ as defined in Acts
• The college owns a lawful copy of the work (for non-internet works)
• The college has purchased a licence from the ICLA
• The ICLA new licence has been published (still awaited)
• The lecturer is putting the material in the college’s VLE (not on the
open Internet or in a MOOC)
• For internet literary works and integral images – copying is not
prohibited by website terms and conditions and copying does not
breach any technological protection measures (TPM)
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FOUR PARAGRAPHS
FROM A JOURNAL
ARTICLE

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Four paragraphs from a journal article
• Permitted under s.57 or s.57A. Illustration / Distance
learning. But will be overridden by terms of new ICLA
licence. Check list of excluded works.
• Some circumstances – s.57B Work available through Internet
• If you re-type the four paragraphs, this is probably permitted
under s.53(1) CRRA. Non-reprographic copying for
education
• Even if directly copied (reprographically), it may be permitted
by the quotation / extracts exception in s.52(4)
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AN IMAGE

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An image
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• If image is part of a published text covered by
ICLA licence:
• Will be permitted under ICLA Licence.
• Check list of excluded works.
• Otherwise – stand-alone images:
• S.57 (5% limit) or s.57A. Illustration /
Distance learning.
• S. 57B - work available through Internet
• As ICLA licence mainly covers literary
works, then s.57 or 57A may still apply to
stand-alone images (artistic works)
This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed
under CC BY-SA

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• In some situations, quotation / extracts – s.52(4) – might
apply to an image

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A VIDEO

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A video
Freely-available internet video:
• S.57B Work available through Internet
Commercial video:
• [Playing a video in class onsite remains permitted by s.55(2)]
• S.57 (5% limit) Illustration
• S.57A Distance learning (no 5% limit)
• In some circumstances quotation / extracts – s.52(4) – might
apply
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Key insights
from the
2014 seminar
(updated)
In online learning materials, it is better from a copyright law perspective
to direct users to find the material themselves rather than providing a
copy to them
The educational exceptions regarding copyright have been broadened in
2019
Staff should familiarise themselves with the requirements of the ICLA
licence (new licence due)
It can be valuable for an institution to have one team or central unit
dealing with copyright
If using images licensed under Creative Commons, it is important to
always use proper attribution

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Changes in the DSM Directive 2019
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• Directive 2019/790
• To be implemented in Member States by June 2021
• Article 5 deals with Education
• See COMMUNIA website - https://bit.ly/00DW-IUA
• In Ireland, Dept of Business, Enterprise and Innovation is the Dept
to which queries / comments should be sent

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CONTACT DETAILS
d.whelan@ucc.ie
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