Copyright is an important consideration when making copyright materials available to your students. You need to know what content you can use, how you can use it and what you can’t use. It is not always straightforward to decide because many elements of copyright law are subjective, particularly deciding whether a copyright activity is "fair". Sometimes there will be an element of interpretation and risk in your decision making.
To help assess copyright risk you'll need to consider the following:
- What is the likelihood that what you are doing infringes copyright? (is the material included in one of our licences, subscriptions or part of 'exceptions for use'?
- Is the use of the material required for your teaching or to make your module look more inviting?
- How likely is it that the copyright holder will discover your activity (for example, is the use for your teaching or to be published)?
- How likely is it that the copyright holder will object to your activity? (for example, is your copying likely to reduce their sales?)
- What impact would it have (both financial and reputational) if the copyright holder was to take action against you or the University?
