Copyright is an intellectual property right that automatically exists as soon as a work is created (i.e. you do not need to apply for copyright). Copyright law is designed to protect the rights of writers, artists, musicians, photographers, publishers and other creators.

Individuals who want to reproduce the original work of others may need to seek permission to do so.

The Copyright Designs and Patents Act, 1988 (CPDA) defines what we can and cannot do. The essence of the act is to protect commercial interests.

• Literary works (print and electronic)

• Musical works

• Artistic works (diagrams, illustrations, photos)

• Sound recordings

• Films, DVD's, videos

• Radio & TV broadcasts

• Typographical arrangement of published editions

 The following activities are restricted under copyright:

• Copying

• Issuing copies to the public, renting or lending

• Performing, showing or playing in public

• Broadcasting

• Adaptation or amendment of a work

• Importing, distributing or acquiring infringing copies

Copyright law does not protect ideas for a work, this is where it is often confused with other areas of intellectual property. To understand the various types of intellectual property, and what they cover, please see the Patent Office website for further details.

Guidance for users with visual impairment

How long does copyright last?

Copyright applies to different types of work for varying periods of time:

You may copy for educational purposes using the 'fair dealing exceptions', the limits for fair dealing are generally accepted as the following:

• one complete chapter from a book or 5% of the total, which ever is greater.

• one complete article from a journal issue or set of conference proceedings.

• 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.

• a short excerpt from a musical work, provided it is not for performance purposes.

• a short excerpt of text or film or an image can be used so long as it is to explain or elaborate upon a point being made by a teacher for instruction

A copy is not "fair" unless the answer to all three of the questions below is "yes".

1. Does the copy preserve the legitimate commercial interest of the copyright owner? (e.g. the user should not copy an item in an effort to avoid buying it)

2. Is the copy being made for the person doing the copying?

3. Is the copy for one of the following purposes:

• Research of a non-commercial nature

• Private study

• Criticism or review

• Reporting current events

• For use in examination

• Illustration (text or image or film) for Instruction

It is essential to give full acknowledgement of the source of any material copied in this way wherever possible.

Licences currently held by Cardiff Met library services include the following:

Cardiff Met holds licenses for all our electronic databases and journals. The symbol is used within the Database A-Z to indicate that these resources are 'subject to license'.

In the majority of cases these resources are made available to Cardiff Met staff and students under strict terms for the purposes of private re​search and study however it is important that you observe the specific terms and conditions for each resource as misuse jeopardises electronic access for the entire university. In particular:

• You should not give your username and password to anyone else to enable them to access our e-resources

• You should not forward copies of any of the information retrieved from the databases to a user who is not authorised to use the resource

• You must not republish the material in any form (i.e. on the web, in Moodle etc) without specific permission from the copyright owner. If you wish to refer anyone to a specific database or journal article please use a hyperlink instead.

Staff and students are reminded of the IT conditions of use that they have accepted.

Staff are also encouraged to look at the Electronic Communications Policy and Guidelines to Computer Legislation for further information.

For any additional specific copyright queries regarding e-resources please contact electronicservices@cardiffmet.ac.uk​

If you want to use material from the Internet you should be aware that, although some web based content is offered freely for you to copy, most is not.

Every website will have its own copyright notice where you can check the restrictions on use of its content.

Use the URL to do this - you can also provide a link to a web page (rather than copying its content) into a Blackboard module without infringing copyright law.

Embedding

Similarly if you embed a YouTube video or Google map into a blog, you are bringing the original source of that content to your site rather than creating another copy of it and so again this does not contravene copyright.

Asking for permission to copy

What to do if copyright restrictions prevent you from copying and using web content in the way you wanted to:

• If the content also exists in printed form you might be able to get a copy that has been cleared for educational use by using the Library's Digitisation Service.

• You can contact the rights owner directly to ask for permission to use their content.