Copyright and Lecture Capture

Answer

Modest amounts of copyright material may be included within a lecture that is recorded under the terms of copyright exceptions in UK law that allow their inclusion for the purposes of 'instruction or examination' and ‘quotation, criticism and review'.

These exceptions allow for the use of modest excerpts from literary, dramatic, musical or artistic works, sound recordings, films or broadcasts provided that the use is accompanied by a sufficient acknowledgement, that the instruction is for a non-commercial purpose, and is considered ‘fair dealing’.

There is no statutory definition of fair dealing – it’s a matter of fact, degree, and impression in each case. To be considered fair dealing the use of the work should only be as much as is necessary for the purpose, should consider the impact that that use might have on the commercial market for the work, and must be accompanied by sufficient acknowledgment. Where the use would not adversely affect sales of the work and where the amount copied is reasonable and appropriate to the context then it is likely that it can be considered fair dealing.

Where you want to include more extensive pieces of copyrighted material in a recorded lecture you will need to carefully consider if the use can be considered fair-dealing. If you judge that it is not you will need to either:

Reduce what is included, omit the material, or substitute it with something else.
See whether you are covered to use the material under the terms of one of the Licences that the university holds, see the Licences page for details.
Contact the copyright owner to request permission for its intended use. To do this:
- First identify the copyright owner, this may be the creator or it may be someone else, such as a publisher or distributor.
- When contacting the rights owner spell out the intended usage you are requesting permission for, making it clear it is for educational purposes not commercial, that the material will only be accessible to students via a password protected system (our VLE KEATS) and will not be freely available on the web.
- Wait for a response. Be aware that rights-owners are under no obligation to respond. Lack of response cannot be taken as consent.
- When the rights owner responds consider whether their terms are acceptable. Negotiate if appropriate, and decide whether to go ahead with the planned use of the material or not. Get permission in writing, and save this where others can find it.
- If you inadvertently include unauthorised copyright materials in the slides of a lecture that is being recorded you should pause the recording just before the material will be shown and restart the recording at an appropriate point once it is no longer visible.