Fair dealing

Copying for non-commercial private study or research

Fair dealing covers the making of single copies from print or electronic works for non-commercial personal use. An instance of copying for private study or research purposes could arguably be copying for a thesis, which is an original and unique piece of work. Copying for a group of students is not covered by this exception

However, if the study or research is commercial in any way, fair dealing will not apply and clearance will be required.

• Research and private study, Section 29, Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988
  

Copying for criticism and review or quotation

Copying may be permitted from a work which has been made publicly available, provided the copying is fair dealing and is acknowledged. Although no limits are given in law, as a general guide, short extracts (held by the Society of Authors to be 400 words or less) may be considered as fair dealing for the purposes of criticism and review or quotation. For longer extracts, it might be necessary to get permission from the copyright owner. 

Case law in this area has sometimes held that even a brief extract is not fair dealing where the extract has comprised the essence of the work.  Therefore, careful consideration on the impact on the copyright owner and the market for the work must always be carefully considered along any justification for the intended use.  

• Criticism, review, quotation and news reporting, Section 30, Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988

Copying for the purpose of illustration for instruction

Copying from all types of copyright works is permitted for under this fair dealing exception, provided the copying is for a non-commercial purpose and is carried out by the person giving or receiving instruction, e.g. a lecturer and students, and includes copying for examinations. Copies must be appropriately acknowledged wherever reasonably practicable. 

The proportion of a work which can be used is not defined, but should be limited to copying only what is needed to illustrate a teaching point. You must be able to justify that the copying is fair dealing, having carefully considered the copying in relation to the copyright owner's interests, the market for the work, as well as the intended copying extents, purpose and audience and means of communication. 

While this exception covers groups, it is limited in scope and does not extend to making the content available beyond the examination or teaching activity, so copies used in this way should not be further distributed.  For instance, making the content available for a limited time to allow the teaching or assessment activity to take place.

Where the content is available to purchase in a format and licence that is reasonable and suitable for the teaching activity however, it is unlikely that a rightsowner would consider the copying to be fair dealing under this exception.  

• Illustration for instruction, Section 32, Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

Copying for an direct or indirect commercial purpose

This includes copying for contract research, consultancy-based research, collaborative research, sponsored research or private study with a direct or indirect commercial benefit.

Such copying is never fair dealing, although some copying may be covered under any copyright licensing agreements held by the organisation where relevant. If no relevant licence is held, copyright clearance must be obtained for all commercial copying, and may incur fees. You should seek further advice from the Copyright Officer or your .

Copying for educational purposes (group study)

Much of the copying carried out for educational purposes cannot be considered to be fair dealing, where the same material is being copied by substantially the same group of users.

An instance where fair dealing could not be applied is where a number of students taking the same module, copy, or are likely to copy, a book chapter listed as core reading on a module reading list. However, copying for a thesis, dissertation or final year project may count as fair dealing, where the work is unique to the individual. The University holds licences which permit some multiple copying for educational purposes.

Explore the links on the right for further information.

Making multiple copies from printed works

The making of multiple copies printed or electronic works is not permitted under fair dealing. Making more than a single copy for one or more individuals is also not fair dealing.

This type of copying is called multiple or systematic copying, and is only legal where permission or a licence has been obtained.

The University holds various licences covering multiple copying for educational purposes, including one from the Copyright Licensing Agency covering multiple copying from printed books, journals and magazines. Visit useful links on copyright in teaching and learning below for further information.

Making multiple copies from electronic works

Making multiple copies from such as websites or e-journals must be explicitly permitted under a contractual licence agreement, web copyright notice or other statement of permission. The University's subscription agreements or Copyright Licensing Agency Higher Education Copyright Licence make some provisions for copying from some e-resources, including some websites.

Where a licence doesn't apply, you should check websites thoroughly for a copyright notice or usage terms. These are usually found on through links on a site's home page. For more information see the web pages on Copying from e-resources and Copying from websites.

Copying a commercial film, or copying images or sound recordings

Copyright clearance for the intended use of the material must be obtained from the copyright owner, or must be specifically covered by a licence agreement, e.g. subscription database. See the links on the right hand side for more information.

There is no safe amount of a published work which may be safely photocopied under fair dealing. The legislation does not give any limit, other than that the copying should be insubstantial. Copyright owners have the right to challenge the fairness of copying.

Substantiality may be defined in qualitative as well as quantitative terms, however in practice, the recommended guidelines for fair dealing copying is generally interpreted as:

• no more than 1 chapter from a book or up to 5% of extracts
• no more than 1 article from a single issue of a journal
• no more than 1 paper or 5% of extracts from a set of conference proceedings
• no more than 1 poem or a short story of no more than 10 pages from an anthology
• no more than 1 case or no more than 5% of extracts from a law report

Best practice when copying under fair dealing

• Copies made under fair dealing must be for personal use by the person making the copies and may not be passed on to other users.
• Copies may be stored electronically, e.g. on a computer hard disc or removable media, but may not be placed on a network, such as an intranet or virtual learning environment where they will be accessible to others.
• Copies should acknowledge the author, title and publisher details on all copies unless this is impracticable.
• Any copyright statement or rights management information attached to the work should be copied along with the material. Where rights information is attached or copy protection is in place, it is a criminal offence to delete, tamper with or amend it.