Copyright
Copyright Information for Students
Copyright is a legal right of ownership that enables the creator of a written, artistic or published work to control how it is used.
Bangor University is committed to copyright compliance and as a student you are expected to abide by current UK copyright law.
Throughout your course, you may want to copy material, i.e. content from web pages, journal articles, images etc. You should be aware that this material will usually be protected by copyright and you should have an understanding of what you will be permitted to copy.
You should consider copyright law by consulting our copyright FAQ page.
Please contact us if you are unsure of any copyright related issue.
Copyright Information for Staff
Copyright is a legal right of ownership that enables the creator of a written, artistic or published work to control how it is used.
Bangor University is committed to copyright compliance and as an employee you are expected to produce high quality materials for teaching/learning or other University resources, this includes ensuring any content used is legal.
If you have used or considered using third party content in any format, you should consider copyright law by consulting our copyright FAQ page.
Please contact us if you are unsure of any copyright related issue.
Copyright Information for Research Outputs and Theses
As stated in the University's IP Policy, you are the first owner of copyright in your scholarly work unless it has been commissioned by the University or a funding contract claims ownership. When submitting an article for publication in a journal, you will be required to sign a copyright agreement form, please check the details of the copyright agreement carefully.
If you are publishing an Open Access article you will be offered a number of open access copyright licenses: creative commons licenses. Please click here for more information on these licenses. If you are funded by RCUK and use the RCUK funding to pay to publish an open access article then you are obliged to publish with a CC-BY copyright license.
Intellectual Property
For more information see Research, Innovation and Impact Office (RIIO): Intellectual Property, Commercialisation and Consultancy.
For your Thesis
As a Bangor University Student, whilst we ask that you take best efforts to seek permission for third party copyright material, failure to secure permissions will not affect marking of the work. However, without the required permissions, your work cannot be made publically available in the University’s digital repository eBangor.
You should consider copyright law by consulting our copyright FAQ page.
Please contact us if you are unsure of any copyright related issue.
Copyright Licences Held by Bangor University
Copyright Licensing Agency (CLA) Higher Education Licence provides permissions for multiple photocopying and scanning of printed books and journals, and the use of digital originals.
Educational Recording Agency (ERA) Licence facilitates off air recording of terrestrial broadcasts for educational purposes.
Newspaper Licensing Agency media access (NLA) Licence enables photocopying of extracts from national newspapers for teaching purposes.
All e-resources have additional terms and conditions which are to be referenced in conjunction with Copyright Law. Please see our General Usage Guidelines for E-Resources.
For further information on the Copyright and Patents Acts please see the Intellectual Property website.
Please contact us if you are unsure of any copyright related issue.
Guide to Using Third Party Content
Copyright is a complex area and the following webpages have been produced as guidance for staff and students and are not intended to be a substitute for legal advice. Academic institutions and individuals are not exempt from these laws and any infringement can result in legal action.
Submissions within an electronic format require special attention to any third party content used. This means any material produced by another author’s or creator as they have intellectual property rights that are legally binding. This protection is automatic and reproducing anything without permission is illegal. There is a common misconception that by acknowledgment and referencing they are covered, this is not always the case.
What can I re-use without permission?
There are exceptions which allow use of copyright works within certain conditions and limits, for example; using a short extract for research for a non-commercial research and private study (Fair Dealing Exceptions) – or to allow for criticism or review. However, all sources must be fully and accurately acknowledged. If in any doubt please seek permission.
Some copyright owners will allow certain types of use; it is always worth checking the copyright statement on the journal, on the title page of the book or look at any restrictions on the website. In all cases you must acknowledge the source.
What do I need permission for?
For more extensive quotation, any form of image (illustrations, graphic images, drawings, maps, tables) material published on the internet, unpublished works and also any music. There is a common misconception that if material is publically available on the web it is free to use, copyright laws will still apply. Public Domain is not the same as publically accessible.
How do I seek permission?
This process can take time, and is essential to request permissions as early as possible. A good starting point is usually the publisher. The copyright owner for images is usually located on or by the image or acknowledged at the source. It is also worth checking the WATCH a website of copyright contacts. For more information on finding copyright owners, please see the IPO website.
If you are having difficulty locating the owner please contact your supervisor for support and guidance.
We have a template for requesting permission which can be used: [Word] [pdf].
What if permission is not granted?
In the event you cannot trace the copyright holder, do not receive a response (a record of efforts must be kept in these cases) or are denied permission you can remove the extract and replace with either a reference or reduce the amount to be considered as fair dealing.
As Bangor University Students whilst we ask that best efforts to seek permission for third party copyright material, failure to secure permissions will not affect marking of the work. However, without the required permissions, your work cannot be made publically available in the repository. Please remember, all sources used within submitted work must be correctly referenced and acknowledged, irrespective of permissions. Failure to reference and acknowledge source is considered plagiarism and will result in action under the University unfair practice procedure.
Please contact us if you are unsure of any copyright related issue.
Keeping your Thesis Legal
Intellectual Property, Commercialisation and Consultancy
Copyright FAQs
Further Guidance, Advice and Information
Useful Presentations and Information:
Video - ‘Through the Copyright Jungle’
Video - ‘CLA Copyright Essentials’
Presentation - Copyright for OER
Copyright MOOC - This is an introduction to Intellectual Property Rights and more specifically to Copyrights. This course is not intended to be an academic course but rather a practical introduction for anyone who creates original materials or who uses, reuses, mixes, adapts and mashes original materials that were created by others.
Further Useful Links:
Copyright, Design and Patents Act 1988
Further Sources:
JISC IPR Toolkit – which gives good practice advise for content creators.
CLA User Guidelines - gives a detailed guide to the Licence terms and conditions for the University.
Please contact us if you are unsure of any copyright related issue.
University Policies
Aberystwyth and Bangor Universities Policy on Using Third Party Copyright Material (University Copyright Policy)
University Intellectual Property Policy
Please contact us if you are unsure of any copyright related issue.