Copyright for Solent Students

The IPO (Intellectual Property Office) advises that it may be within the scope of 'fair dealing' to make single photocopies of short extracts of a copyright work for non-commercial research or private study, criticism or review, or reporting current events. General guidance for fair dealing indicates that the following would be deemed to be acceptable:

• Up to 5 per cent or one whole chapter (whichever is the greater) from a book.
• Up to 5 per cent or one whole article (whichever is the greater) from a single issue of a journal.
• Up to 5 per cent or one paper (whichever is the greater) from a set of conference proceedings.
• Up to 5 per cent of an anthology of short stories or poems or one short story or one poem of not more than ten pages (whichever is the greater).
• Up to 5 per cent or one single case (whichever is the greater) from a published report of judicial proceedings.

This guidance is for all forms of information whether in print or found online. 

What is fair dealing?

Fair Dealing is a legal term used to establish whether use of a copyright material is lawful or whether it infringes copyright.

There is no statutory definition of fair dealing, instead each individual use has to be looked at within the specific circumstances.  The UK Intellectual Property Office (UK IPO) states “The question to be asked is: how would a fair-minded and honest person have dealt with the work.

There are some general factors to consider:

• Is the amount of the work to be copied reasonable and appropriate to the purpose?  
• Does using the work affect the market for the original work? If a use of a work acts as a substitute for it and competes with the copyright owner's exploitation of the work, for instant by avoiding purchase of a legitimate copy, then it is unlikely to be considered ‘fair’.

Fair dealing applies to literary, dramatic, musical, artistic or typographical works, not just text-based works. It does not cover the copying of printed music.  

What is not fair dealing?

• An entire work like books, music, films.
• Unrestricted access to any copyright material.
• Making a high resolution copy available or one that would cause rights holders to lose revenue.
• Not using for the purposes outlined in the exception; for example, it should relate to instruction or examination, research and private study, criticism or review, or news reporting.

You cannot share or distribute copies you have made with others.  Which mean you may not email, post on social media or distribute print copies.  

That would not be considered "fair dealing" and would infringe copyright law. It is much better to 
share the link or the reference instead.