This guide from Durham University Library provides essential information about copyright law, particularly focusing on fair dealing for academic purposes. It specifies limits on copying materials for research, criticism, and teaching, highlighting the necessary permissions required for different types of content, including texts, illustrations, and audio-visual materials. Furthermore, it encourages proper citation and awareness of licensing agreements, outlining the legal landscape that governs the use of copyrighted works.

1. Copyright Guide.
This short guide has been prepared by staff within Durham University Library Service and is
intended to help academic staff, researchers, administrators and students when they are
thinking of incorporating the work of other people in materials of their own creation.
1. What is Fair Dealing?
‘Fair dealing’ is a term used for copying when it is:
 of an insubstantial amount of the whole work
AND is for the purpose of
 non-commercial research, or
 non-commercial private study, or
 criticism or review, or
 reporting current events.
If such criteria are met, the copying does not infringe copyright in the work.
However, how much copying is acceptable as ‘fair dealing’ is not actually defined in the
Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. Fair dealing is only a defence that could be used if
a court case ensued.
2. How much can I copy for Non-Commercial Research or Non-Commercial Private
Study?
In most cases, copying within the following limits can be taken as fair dealing for the purpose
of non-commercial research or non-commercial private study.
 up to one complete chapter of a book;
 up to one whole article from a single issue of a serial publication or in a set of
conference proceedings;
 the entire report of a single case of judicial proceedings;
 in the case of an anthology of short stories or poems, one short story or poem not
exceeding 10 pages in length;
OR no more than 5% of any published edition above, whichever is the greater.
Note that a student is the author of a thesis and is therefore the copyright holder for his/her
original work. However, for the purposes of photocopying, theses are treated as books and up
to 5% or one chapter may be copied without seeking permission.
Note also that some photocopying can be carried out in relation to commercial research under
the terms of the university's current licence from the Copyright Licensing Agency (CLA).
3. How much can I copy for Criticism or Review?
If you have copied a whole chapter of a book, or an article from a journal, you may then want
to quote some of that text or include an illustration from it within a new piece of work that
you are writing (i.e. an essay, dissertation or thesis), for the purpose of criticism or review.

2. Under 'fair dealing' it is has been previously accepted that you can copy and include in your
work:
 one extract of no more than 400 words;
 several extracts none more than 300 words and totalling not more than 800 words;
 up to 40 lines from a poem, not exceeding one-quarter of the whole.
.... PROVIDED that you include a proper acknowledgement of the author and the source of
the material you are using in the form of a proper citation. (This is REQUIRED by law, as
well as being good practice in avoiding accusations of plagiarism!)
However, The Publishers Association in their Permissions Guidelines now state:
"Previous industry rules of thumb that extracts of up to 400 words are somehow ‘safe’ are
now misleading and positively dangerous."
... though they also somewhat more helpfully advise:
"There must be a significant element of “actual criticism and review” of the work being
copied (i.e. substantial comment, as opposed to mere reproduction), although this is
sometimes interpreted liberally;"
The best advice is to be very careful as to the amount being quoted, think about its 'quality' as
well as the "quantity," and the likely commercial implications (if any) of including the quote -
and if in doubt seek further
Also note that there is a similar provision in UK copyright legislation allowing you to copy
insubstantial amounts of text (but not illustrations or photographs) for the purpose of
reporting current events. This covers the situation when one newspaper quotes text that first
appeared in another newspaper, this is however unlikely to apply very often at the university.
4. Are there any restrictions on making multiple photocopies?
The copying limits under the terms of fair dealing relate to ‘single copying’ by tutors or
students. If a tutor wants to do multiple copying of an item for a module of study then more
regulations naturally apply.
If the rights holder is a publisher within the CLA scheme, then multiple photocopying for
distribution to students during a particular course of study can be carried out subject to the
‘normal’ limitations apply under the CLA photocopying licence. The number of multiple
copies of any one item of copyright material made should not exceed the number needed to
ensure that each recipient of instruction or student has one reproduction only.
To see the current list of UK publishers and their works excluded from the CLA scheme see
the following:
 UK Publishers and works excluded from the CLA scheme
(http://www.cla.co.uk/licences/excluded_works/excluded_categories_works/)
To see a list of US publishers covered by the scheme, see the following:
 US Publishers included in the CLA scheme
(http://www.cla.co.uk/data/pdfs/nhs/list_of_participating_us_publishers.pdf)

3. If the publisher is outside of the scheme then you will have to apply directly to that company
or organisation for permission to make multiple copies for class use. The rights holders will
probably ask for the payment of additional fees for this clearance to use their material.
5. Can I photocopy newspapers and magazines?
The university has signed a licence with the Newspaper Licensing Agency (NLA) which
allows photocopying from all of the UK national newspapers, plus a number of regional
newspapers.
The licence permits multiple copying of up to 250 copies of an article for the purposes of
student teaching, but it does not licence copying of photographs or advertisements.
Permission for this must be sought through the rights-holders for these items.
6. Is there copyright in a questionnaire?
A questionnaire is just like any other written work in that the person who wrote it or the
organisation that had it created will own the copyright, and you cannot make multiple copies
and distribute unless you have a licence from, or the direct permission of, the copyright
owners.
Producers of ‘well-known’ questionnaires very rarely join in general licensing agreements,
and often demand that you purchase all copies you intend to use from them directly, or charge
a basic royalty on every copy you intend to make yourself and then distribute.
There may be circumstances in which the rights holders have given a general permission (or
licence) for anyone to use the questionnaire, or where it is almost impossible to find out who
does own the copyright, but in general you must get permission to duplicate and use a
questionnaire that you haven’t devised yourself. Even if you want to adapt an existing
questionnaire by altering the wording in some way, it is advisable to get permission first.
7. Can artistic and illustrative works be copied?
Illustrative material within a work has separate copyright to textual material. If the whole
work itself is covered by the university's CLA licence then you can make multiple copies of
the work and that illustration (as part of it) under the terms of the CLA licence.
For example, if you want to make 30 copies of an illustration appearing on one page of an
article in a journal covered by the licence for distribution in a class, then you should copy the
whole page on which it appears (not just the illustration), if you don't want to copy the whole
article.
For single-copy photocopying, you must work within fair dealing terms and limits. It should
be noted that there is no adequate definition of what is meant by an insubstantial amount of
the whole work when referring to an illustration, so care must be exercised not to infringe
when copying such material.
Note that the scanning of illustrative material for mounting on a Virtual Learning
Environment, such as DUO, may be covered by the terms of the CLA Scanning Licence, but
you will need to check the terms and conditions before carrying out the work. Otherwise,
however, scanning for distribution via any other electronic medium such as the Internet, is
NOT currently covered by any university copyright licence. You will have to seek permission
from the rights holder if you want to do that

4. 8. Can 35mm slides be copied?
The creation of slides from copyrighted illustrations for display during a lecture is allowed
provided that the slides are not subsequently kept in a collection afterwards.
The Design and Artists Copyright Society (DACS) says that this ban includes a lecturer’s
personal collection (i.e. the slide should be destroyed after the lecture). The British
Copyright Council advice is merely that the slide(s) so created should not become part of
publicly accessible collections (i.e. any collection maintained by Library Services).
9. I have purchased a copy of a television programme that I want to show to my
students. Is this subject to a license?
Purchased recordings are not covered by any university copyright license that we manage.
The terms for copying and non-commercial use may be listed on the recording's case or in the
contents of the recording. If in doubt, make contact in writing with the copyright holder for
permission to use it.
10. What is the British University Film and Video Council (BUFVC) and why are we
members?
The BUFVC is a service to which the University subscribes. We chiefly use the service to
obtain copies of previously broadcast television programmes which are no longer available or
difficult to access. The BUFVC has an extensive database (TRILT) of the programmes
available. Academic staff can request copies of programmes through their website. For more
information and instructions visit our webpage at www.dur.ac.uk/copyrightlicensing/bufvc/.
15. Can copies be made of sound recordings?
Copying sound recordings can be carried out lawfully in only a limited number of
circumstances, i.e.
 under fair dealing terms for the purpose of criticism or review
 for the purpose of inclusion in an examination
 for supporting the teaching of film or film sound-track studies
 under the terms of a licence from the rights holder or representative organisation
 with the direct permission of the rights holder
16. What about video recordings?
The university currently holds a licence from the Education Recording Agency (ERA)
which permits the recordings of a large proportion of radio, television and cable output (apart
from Open University and Open College programmes for which it holds a separate OU
licence).
This means in effect that any programme from the four major radio and TV suppliers (BBC,
ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5) may be recorded off-air on University premises or at home
without infringing copyright, provided that its re-showing is solely for educational purposes.
It is still not permissible to make a copy of any existing video recording (whether bought,
borrowed, or recorded off-air) without the permission of the copyright owner. However, s.
34(2) of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 allows you to play a video for the
purposes of instruction at an educational establishment, and this covers commercially
available videos irrespective of warnings about them being licensed for ‘home use only’.

5. 17. Can I show or play programmes using the BBC iPlayer?
The BBC iPlayer Service allows you to watch or listen to BBC programmes for up to seven
days after broadcast (via the Click to Play or ‘streaming’ facility) or to download them to
your own computer and watch or listen to them for a longer, but service-limited, period of
time (normally up to 30 days) via the iPlayer Download Manager Software.
The service is primarily aimed at the individual ‘home user’ rather than students in a
classroom environment. However, if you wish to ‘show’ a recent TV programme during a
class by streaming it ‘live’ to those attending, providing the room is equipped with the
appropriate equipment to display it then you can do so.
If you have downloaded the iPlayer Download Manager Software onto your own laptop and
then downloaded and recorded a programme, then you could bring that laptop into a class
and, if facilities allowed, connect it to the display equipment and show the programme to the
students in that class.
Please note that the other broadcast providers such as ITV, Channel 4 and Channel Five offer
similar services (ITV Player, Catch-Up and Demand Five respectively) but you are advised to
check their sites for terms and conditions of use before planning on using them as sources for
teaching material.
However, if you know of a programme that you want recording ahead of its broadcast (or
even repeat broadcast) then you can make a recording of it under the terms of the university’s
licences from the ERA or the Open University. You could then show that as many times as
you like, and/or transfer it to DUO (as long as it can be viewed only on university premises).
If you miss the broadcast then there are services that can supply the university with copies of
past programmes, but charges will apply.
For full details of the terms and conditions, please go to the ERA Licence or Open
University Licence web pages.
18. What about Scanning?
Copyright legislation simply refers to 'copying' and does not distinguish between
photocopying and scanning, so the same rules apply, i.e. for copying for non-commercial
research and private study the same limits and restrictions on use apply to scanning as they do
to photocopying.
In particular, you should NOT scan and then make multiple printed copies or re-publish and
distribute the material in electronic form (i.e. via DUO, an Intranet, or the wider Internet),
unless you have been given permission by the rights holders to do so.
Even if you have had permission and paid fees to produce multiple printed copies (even under
the university's photocopying licence), you must seek separate permission or check the licence
terms if you wish to scan and then disseminate an electronic version of the same material.
The university’s scanning licence is quite restrictive in what material you can scan and how
much you can copy from each item, and requires full recording of all scanning. For full
details, please see the web pages on the CLA Scanning Licence before you start scanning any
material.
If in doubt, please contact Katharine Davidson-Brown of the Library Digitisation Service.

6. 19. What are Creative Commons Licences?
Creative Commons Licences are pre-prepared licences intended to help copyright holders
distribute their work, defining how it can be used by others whilst the authors retain their
rights, particularly their copyright, in the work.
The Creative Commons movement has produced a number of licences (currently there are six
main licences) which authors can take ‘as given’ or adapt to their requirements. The author
then ‘attaches’ the appropriate licence to the work and that licence becomes the set of rules
that the author expects the copiers to obey when they copy the work. The licences tend to be
‘more permissive’ than licences from commercial publishers, and their basic idea is to permit,
and almost encourage, the copying of the works as long as due acknowledgement is given to
the original author as its source.
20. Where else can I get information about copyright?
The UK government provides advice on copyright matters though various sources but the
most comprehensive website dealing with copyright and other intellectual property (IP)
matters is:
 The UK Intellectual Property Office (http://www.ipo.gov.uk/)
The JISC Legal Information Service for staff at UK universities has produced a series of
helpful briefing papers for tutors using e-Learning techniques who need advice on copyright
etc:
 JISC Legal Information Service e-Learning Series (http://www.jisclegal.ac.uk/)
If you are trying to locate the rights-holders for works that are copyright of a particular author
(dead or alive) then The WATCH File database might help:
 The WATCH File (http://norman.hrc.utexas.edu/watch/)
If you intend to carry out research by interviewing people, The Oral History Society have a
very useful website concerning copyright issues in such circumstances:
 Copyright and Oral History (http://www.oralhistory.org.uk/)
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Produced by
Colin Theakston
Academic Liaison Librarian
Durham University Library Service
Durham University
September 2013.
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