Copyright - a guide for young people

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The protection given to a creator by copyright is automatic in the UK. The creator does not need to register that they have written a new song or made a recording.

Just because something is easy to do doesn't make it legal!
There's lots of free stuff on the web but we have to check and find out if we can copy or download information and stay within the law. Websites usually have the © symbol to protect their information but some don't display it - that does not mean you can copy or reuse their information - you have to look out for other signs.

Signs
If a website is looking for a password or wants you to register then you have to think about copyright. What is the authors intention? Advertisers and charities generally don't mind you copying their stuff but you need to check with them. How much do you want to copy? Use the 'fair deal' rule for research or homework:

• There is a set of rules which describe how long copyright lasts for each of the different classes of material. For instance, for a book or a magazine article, the copyright lasts until 70 years after the death of the author. On the other hand, the copyright for a music recording lasts only 50 years after its publication.
• Although there are many legal complexities surrounding the concept of copyright, its main purpose is to allow people who create things both financial reward and control over how their creation is used.
• This means that when you are carrying out an information task, you must be aware of the limits that copyright places on you.

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The concept of fair dealing for non-commercial research or study is part of the UK copyright law legislation. It means that as a student, you may make a single copy of a part of a literary work for study purposes.

Note that this does not apply to media such as films or audio recordings.

Unfortunately the legislation is not exact on how big a part of ,say, a book you can copy. However, it is generally accepted that copying up to 5% of a book will not be seen as a copyright infringement. Similarly you should be safe copying one article from a magazine or a newspaper, always of course for study purposes.

You will usually find that schools, colleges and libraries are very strict about this. Notices are usually placed near photocopiers with warnings about infringing copyright. Libraries and schools have a certain duty to make sure that law-breaking does not occur on their premises, although they are not legally responsible for a copyright infringement, - the person who makes the copy is.

Rough guide to what you can copy (fair deal)

• From a journal - 1 article or 5% whichever is the greater
• Books - 1 chapter or 5%, whichever is the greater
• Short reports - 10% but not more than 20 pages
• Pamphlets - 10% but not more than 20 pages
• Anthologies - (short stories or poems) not more than 10 pages
• Separate illustrations, drawings, diagrams, photographs - a single copy

Note: Some license agreements allow you to copy more so check in your library, school or college.

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Internet
It is worth emphasising that what is legal or illegal in the real world is also legal or illegal on the Internet. This means that all the contents of websites on the Internet are covered by copyright law, just in the same way as if they were books on a library shelf.

The problem is that if you are working on a computer at home, there is no librarian keeping a watch. It is very easy to copy all sorts of things from the web with no photocopying costs. You may still breaking the law!

In fact the Internet, computers and printers make it easier to break the law, but you could be prosecuted if you are caught. If you are in any doubt ask your librarian.

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