The way people learn is from others' work. As Isaac Newton wrote in 1675 "if I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants."
When conducting academic study, it is necessary to ensure that you do not copy a substantial amount of any work that is in copyright. It must be clear when you are using or quoting from others' work.
As a general rule, published creative works remain in copyright for the lifetime of the creator plus 70 years after their death. This varies a little depending on the format of the work (see this useful chart from the National Archives). The rules are also different for unpublished works, e.g material available in archives. Permission must always be sought from the copyright owner before reproduction, even for a short quotation.
There is a series of exceptions in the copyright legislation that allows for limited copying and reuse of copyrighted work for private research and study. These are called Fair Dealing in the UK. The US has a similar term, Fair Use, which is different. If you are based at a UK institution you must follow the UK regulatory framework.
Fair dealing is a group of exceptions within the copyright legislation that allows students to use copyrighted works.
The nature of UK copyright exceptions is that they are defences to accusations against infringement. They are not rights. This puts the onus of responsibility on the person doing the copying to ensure it is legal.
The main fair dealing provisions applicable for students are:
Please see the boxes below for further information.
Two provisions within the legislation allow students to make a single Personal copy of limited extracts for Research and private study.
In assessing whether the use of the work is permitted or not, it is necessary to assess if there is any financial impact on the copyright owner because of that use. You must not share or upload the personal copies that you have made.
*Limited extracts is not defined in law. The University's Legal Services Division advises the following limits:
The Caricature, parody or pastiche exception permits people to use limited amounts of copyright material without the owner’s permission for the purpose of parody, caricature or pastiche. The UK government's Intellectual Property Office gives the examples of:
"For example a comedian may use a few lines from a film or song for a parody sketch; a cartoonist may reference a well known artwork or illustration for a caricature; an artist may use small fragments from a range of films to compose a larger pastiche artwork."
For further examples see the Copyright User webpages.
The illustration for instruction exception permits the copying and display of short extracts or passages from literary and musical works, films, sound recordings and broadcasts as well as artistic works by a person giving or receiving instruction (or preparing for giving or receiving instruction), if certain conditions are met:
The Criticism, quotation, review and news reporting exception allows a student to reproduce limited amounts of work in order to critique and review another's work. This is usually the exception that will apply when quoting another's work in essays, dissertations and exam questions.
Certain conditions must be met:
A common question regarding quotation is what length is permissible. This is not set out in law. The University's Legal Services Division advises:
"Custom and practice in academic publishing suggests that quotations of prose from a single copyright work for the purpose of criticism or review could be fair dealing if not greater than 400 words in a single quotation, or up to a total of 800 words in a series of short quotations, none of which is longer that 300 words." For further detail please consult the Copyright Basics webpage under FAQ: Are there any exceptions to copyright protection in law where copying and use of a copyright work is allowed without permission from, or payment to, the copyright owner/holder, i.e. without infringing copyright?
There is more detail on the Copyright Compliance section of Cambridge University's Legal Services Division website (access for University members via Raven password). These are set out in an FAQ format.
If you are registered with the University's Accessibility and Disability Resources Centre and need help using library resources the Libraries Accessibility Service will be able to help.
The UK Government defines Text and data mining (TDM) as the process of deriving information from machine-read material. It works by copying large quantities of material, extracting the data, and recombining it to identify patterns.
Please see the dedicated LibGuide on TDM.
Uploading other people's works into a generative AI system will be an infringement of copyright. This includes creative works and data from digital subscription products. The copyright holder has the right to control what happens to their work and it is unlikely they will want their work made available in this way.
Also, be very careful about uploading your own work as it will be stored in the database and re-used by the AI system.
For further information, please visit the University's Academic Misconduct and Plagiarism AI page.
The term "public domain" is often misused.
An item is in the public domain once its copyright has expired or it is available under an open licence.
People refer to items on the internet as being in the public domain, because they are publicly available, but that does not mean they are free of copyright. Please check the terms and conditions on the website or seek permission from the creator before reusing the material.
There are strict rules about copying sheet music that is still in copyright. Members of the Music Faculty can conduct some copying under the University's Higher Education Printed Music License. Please contact the Pendlebury Music Library for more information.
Plagiarism is different from copyright, but clear citation of sources is good academic practice in both cases. Please see the Plagiarism LibGuide for further information.