Copyright: information and advice for students

Both printed publications and electronic resources are protected by copyright law.  Electronic resources are also usually subject to the terms of a licence agreed between Information Services and the publisher.  The general legal backgound is given on the Office of the University Secretary website.

Copying for the purposes of non-commercial research or private study

If you wish to copy material, you will need to ensure that you comply with current legislation, as set out in the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 (as amended) and elsewhere.  Section 29(1) of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988  permits "fair dealing ... for the purposes of research or private study".  The 1988 Act has since been extended in accordance with a European Union directive which specifically excludes from fair dealing any copying made for commercial gain. Although fair dealing is not defined in the Act, the limits for fair dealing copying from any one published edition are widely accepted to be:

• one complete chapter from a book or 5% of the total, whichever is the greater
• one article from a journal issue or set of conference proceedings
• one illustration, diagram or map not exceeding A4 size (illustrations forming an integral part of a chapter or article may be included in the above extracts)
• the entire report of a single case from a set of law reports
• one short story or poem (up to a maximum of 10 pages) from an anthology
• up to 10% from a pamphlet, report or standard (up to a maximum of 20 pages)
• a short excerpt from a musical work, provided it is not for performance purposes.

If you are copying from electronic resources you will also need to comply with the terms of any licence agreed between the Library and the publisher (more details).

If you incorporate any of this material in your own work you must also cite it properly to avoid plagiarism.

Copying for other purposes

Copying for teaching purposes is covered by the University's Copyright Licensing Agency (CLA) Photocopying Licence. For further information see the Photocopying Guidelines, which also links to other licenses the university has for scanning and copying materials not listed above, and advice on electronic downloads.

Copying for Commercial Research is also covered in the Photocopying Guidelines.

For guidance for academic staff on the restrictions applying to the placing of photocopies into the Library's stock, see the Copyright Guidance pages, which also provide links to background information on copyright and patents.

Contacts

For further information contact the University Secretary's Office. Named contacts in the University Secretary's Office are given at the foot of the Legal background page.

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