The
Many images on sites such as Flickr are uploaded under a Creative Commons licence that allows users to use, reproduce and/or adapt the material. It is always important to check the terms of the licence before using these images: there are different levels of usage permitted, and some licences require that you make any resources you have created using these images freely available under Creative Commons.
You can use the Creative Commons Search facility to search sites such as Flickr, Google Images, YouTube and Fotopedia for Creative Commons-licensed images and videos.
This guidance from the Gov.UK Intellectual Property Office is a useful explanation of what to do if you want to use images and photographs within your work. Copyright notice: digital images, photographs and the internet
The
Any images used must be sourced from copyright-cleared material.
This means either scanned or photocopied from an original copy owned by the Library, i.e. from a print book or journal; sourced from a copyright-cleared document supplied by the Content & Discovery Team (Copyright) sourced from a copyright-cleared image database subscribed to by the Library such as Bridgemann Education or SCRAN; or free to use under a Creative Commons licence.
Wherever your images are from, always remember to sufficiently acknowledge your source.
As long as images are sourced from copyright-cleared material, you are permitted to use them in lectures, in handouts or on Blackboard.
Unfortunately here is no clear answer on this issue. Screenshots are considered 'derivative works' under copyright law and are therefore protected in the same way as the original software. Unless the licence of the software in question states otherwise, you should assume that use of screenshots is restricted.
Some software licenses do permit use of screenshots - Microsoft, for example, permits use of screenshots as long as:
It is possible that screenshots could potentially be permitted under the 'fair dealing' clauses in the UK Copyright Act when used for educational purposes. However, this is not clear as the law currently stands, and if you wish to use screenshots of computer software it is advisable to seek the advice of the Copyright Advisor first.
Use of YouTube videos in teaching largely depends on whether the video in question is in itself an infringing work. Many users of YouTube do not own the copyright of the content they upload: either the video itself or the associated soundtrack; if you were to subsequently embed or link to the video in question to the VLE, you and/or the University would be liable for secondary copyright infringement.
Many legitimate copyright owners, such as CNN, BBC etc. have their own YouTube channels. These are usually clearly distinguished by logos or branding and often have some kind of copyright usage statement. You may use these videos as long as you adequately acknowledge them and embed them within your Blackboard page or presentation using the code provided.
If you are unsure how to use YouTube to embed videos within Blackboard, consult the Technology Enhanced Learning team for assistance.
Recently agreed terms between ERA and BBC, C4, ITV and Channel 5 have extended the ERA licence to cover the BBC iPlayer, Channel 4's All 4, ITV Hub and Channel 5's My 5 videos on demand services. You can now directly stream these videos for display in lectures and link the videos within Blackboard. It must be for non-commercial, educational purposes under the terms of the ERA Licence. These services however often have a time limit of 30 days, beyond which these videos are unavailable.
You can find more information on the ERA licence on our ERA page or at the ERA Licensing Scheme website.
The
All of the recordings made under the ERA licence must be monitored and details recorded for an annual audit. You must therefore not make recordings yourself. If you want a program recording, you must request that IT Field Services do this for you. Please try and ensure you make your request at least 48 hours in advance of the airdate.
Please note that third-party advertisements are not included within the ERA licence, as the various ERA members/participants do not own or control the rights to these.
You will always need to obtain permission of the copyright owner in order to take a photograph of a copyrighted work. A photograph is considered a derivative work, and copyright law solely invests the right to create derivate works in the copyright owner.
You may take photographs of works that are in the public domain (for artistic works, the duration of copyright is the lifetime of the creator plus 70 years), regardless of who owns them. However, be aware that many galleries and museums have terms of entry that prohibit or restrict photography of exhibits.