Intellectual property

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

 

Can I include small extracts of text from a copyrighted work in my teaching materials?

Yes, as long as you comply with the following requirements

  • It must be a small extract.
  • It will be used for teaching or research purposes.
  • The work has been published.
  • The extract is to be used for the purposes of citation, analysis, commentary or critical judgement.
  • The author and source of the work are cited appropriately.

Can I include small extracts of audio or audiovisual material or images from a work in my teaching materials?

Yes, in your teaching materials you may include extracts of works or images without requiring the permission of the author or owner of the rights, as long as:

  • the work(s) are already in the public domain.
  • or they have Creative Commons licences which give permission for their use.
  • The author and the source must always be cited appropriately.

Can I use small extracts of a copyrighted work to show in class?

Yes, as long as you comply with the following requirements:

  • It must be a small extract
  • It will be used for teaching or research purposes
  • It will not be used for commercial purposes
  • The work has been published
  • The author and source of the work must be cited appropriately

When the extract used is from a textbook, university manual or assimilated publication you should include a location from which students can legally access the work.

Can I use small extracts of text, audio or audiovisual material or images from a work in my classes?

Yes, in your classes you may show extracts of works or images without requiring the permission of the author or owner of the rights, as long as:

  • the work(s) are already in the public domain.
  • or they have Creative Commons licences which give permission for their use.
  • The author and the source must always be cited appropriately.

Can I use copyrighted materials that are on the internet in my teaching materials, in my blog and so on?

Yes, you can use these by creating a link to them, but not by copying them. Material published on the internet is also protected by the Copyright Act. If you need to copy or reuse this material, you must seek the permission of the owner of the rights. Remember that whenever you link to these materials, or copy them (but only with the permission of the holder of the rights), you must cite the author and the source appropriately.

You must also make sure that the link that you provide is from a legal website which respects copyright regulations.

We recommend that you first check whether this information is available through the library and, if so, that you use the link that the library provides you with.

Can I use non-copyrighted materials that are on the internet in my teaching materials, in my blog and so on?

Yes, you may use materials published on the internet that are not copyrighted, that are copyright-free or that have copyleft licences that permit this (such as Creative Commons), as long as:

  • The author and source of the work are cited appropriately
  • You comply with the specific regulations that are set out in the licence

We recommend that you link to this material rather than copying it. You must also make sure that the link that you provide is from a legal website which respects copyright regulations.

We also recommend that you first check whether this information is available in the library and, if so, that you use the link that the library provides you with.

Can I use the copyrighted images of others in my teaching materials?

Yes, the law establishes that in the course of your teaching activities you may include images in your educational materials, without having permission from the author or the owner of the rights, as long as the following criteria are met:

  • The extract is used for the purposes of citation, analysis, commentary or critical judgement.
  • It will be used for teaching or research purposes.
  • The work has been published (on paper, on the internet and so on).
  • The author and source of the work are cited appropriately.

Can I use extracts from copyrighted films in my classes?

Yes, the law establishes that in the course of your teaching activities you may use extracts from the audiovisual works of others as long as the following criteria are met:

  • The works have been published.
  • They are to be used for educational or research purposes
  • They will not be used for commercial purposes
  • They are only shared within the class, conference, discussion etc.
  • You must always cite the author and the source.

Remember that an “extract” is understood to be a small part of the entirety of a work.

Can I use extracts from copyrighted audio materials in my classes?

Yes, the law establishes that in the course of your teaching activities you may use extracts from the audio works of others as long as the following criteria are met:

  • The works have been published.
  • They are to be used for educational or research purposes
  • They are not to be used for commercial purposes
  • They are only shared within the class, conference, discussion etc.
  • You must always cite the author and the source appropriately.
  • Remember that an “extract” is understood to be a small part of the entirety of a work.

How can I gain permission to use all of, or parts greater than extracts of, copyrighted works in my classes or in my teaching materials?

If you need the permission of the holder of the rights to a work, you must contact the same, whether this is a person or an organisation (a publisher etc.).

In Spain there are different organisational bodies (CEDRO, VEGAP and so on) which are responsible for collectively managing the rights of authors. This means that it is usually quite easy to contact them.

If you require assistance or guidance in requesting this permission, please contact your faculty’s library.

Can I provide my students, through Moodle or other virtual platforms, with the complete text of a copyrighted article or a chapter of a copyrighted book?

Yes. You can use virtual channels to provide your students with an article, a chapter of a book or 10% of the content of a work because Mondragon Unibertsitatea pays an annual fee to this end to CEDRO and VEGAP (organisations which manage copyright).

Remember that you must always cite the author and the source.

Can I post any complete work by others on a virtual classroom of the university (the Moodle platform or others) if it seems interesting?

Although virtual classrooms or platforms (such as Moodle) are networks to which access is restricted, they provide students with content and the Intellectual Copyright act understands this as “public communication”.

Unless the work is in the public domain or has a Creative Commons licence which permits this, the use of a material created by another person requires the permission of the author or the holder of the rights.

This means that if you need to use complete works by others you must provide access by linking to them:

  • if the work is included in the library collection, use the URL from the catalogue (permalink)
  • if it is not included in the collection but it is available on the internet, you should provide a link to it, provided that you are sure that the link that you provided leads to a legal website. Be careful to avoid providing access to works by including links that lead to illegal websites.

If these options are not available, you must contact the author or owner of the rights.

If you require assistance or guidance in requesting this permission, please contact your library.

Can I use Moodle or other virtual platforms to provide my students with the complete texts of various different articles from the same journal number or various different chapters from the same book when these are protected by copyright?

Yes, you may do this as long as you have the express permission of the author or holder of the rights.

If you do not have this permission and you need assistance or guidance in requesting it, please contact your library

Be aware that you can only provide your students, through virtual channels, with an article, a chapter of a book or 10% of the content of a copyrighted work because Mondragon Unibertsitatea pays an annual fee to this end to CEDRO and VEGAP (organisations which manage copyright).

Remember that you must always cite the author and the source.

Can I give out copies of copyrighted documents to my students in the classroom?

Yes, as long as you comply with the following requirements:

  • The extract in question is small.
  • The copies are to be used for teaching or research purposes.
  • They are not to be used for commercial purposes
  • They are not included in university manuals or textbooks.
  • The work has been published.
  • The author and source of the work are cited appropriately.
  • Anything larger than a “small extract” must have the permission of the owner of the rights.

Can I give out copies of copyrighted textbooks or copyrighted university manuals to my students in the classroom?

If you would like to give out small extracts or parts of textbooks or university manuals in class, you must have the permission of the author or the owner of the rights.

Remember that you must always cite the author and the source appropriately.

If you require assistance or guidance in requesting this permission, please contact your faculty’s library.

Can I give out copies of non-copyrighted documents to my students in the classroom?

Yes, you may give out copies of non-copyrighted works in class as long as:

  • They are in the public domain.
  • They have a Copyleft licence (Creative Commons etc.) that gives permission for this.

Remember that you must always cite the author and the source appropriately.

What does the private copying exception give you the right to do?

The private copying exception allows you to reproduce published works without the permission of the author or owner of the rights, as long as you meet all of the following criteria:

  • you have accessed the work legally
  • you are making the copy for your own private use
  • you do not use the copy for commercial purposes

You can make a private copy of a work, whether this is electronic, on paper, on a CD or so on, with the exception of electronic databases and computer programmes, if the copy is not to be used with others or for profit-making purposes.

To offset this, these personal copies are coupled with a private copy levy: a form of financial compensation which is known as “fair compensation for private copy”.

Can I photocopy all or part of copyrighted documents for students by invoking the private copy exception?

No, you may not photocopy copyrighted documents or parts of these by invoking the private copy exception because this exception only applies to personal copies.

If you feel that a document or part of a document is essential, you should provide your students with the bibliographic reference of the work or the legal link to the same so that each student can locate it in the library and, if they need to, make use of the private copy exception.

Who is the author of a work?

The author of the work is the person that has created it.

Authors are normally individuals but in certain cases they may be legal entities.

Is the author of a work always the holder of the rights?

Not necessarily. The author of a work always retains the moral rights to this work but they may cede its exploitation rights to third parties who will then become the holders of said rights.

Are there any consequences arising from the unauthorised use of copyrighted works?

Yes. Unauthorised use of copyrighted works has legal consequences because it involves the infringement of intellectual copyright. The authors or owners of rights may exercise the civil and criminal proceedings that are established by the law.

Are works without visible copyright symbols exempt from protection?

Any work is protected by author copyright, whether it has a visible copyright symbol or not.

Remember that it is not necessary to register a work in order to protect it, nor is it necessary to place symbols or other indicators on it.

Can we use works with copyleft licences (Creative Commons etc.) freely?

No. Works with any type of copyleft licence will have specific indications about what you can do and what you cannot do, and you must comply with the regulations that are set out

What is plagiarism in an academic environment?

Plagiarism consists of using the words or ideas of other people as if they were your own. It is considered to be a bad practice and a form of deceitful behaviour.

Remember that in all academic and scientific work it is essential that you mention the sources that you use. In doing so, you give recognition to the work and the authorship of others.

Neglecting to give this recognition is taking advantage of the work of others, that is to say, plagiarising.

How can I avoid committing plagiarism?

The best way of avoiding committing plagiarism is by citing and referencing the outside content that you use.

You can avoid committing plagiarism by placing all text from outside sources word-for-word within quotation marks and accompanying this with an appropriate citation, that is, a brief reference stating the author and the source from which the information was obtained.

Another form of avoiding plagiarism is by paraphrasing, which is using your own words to explain the ideas and concepts of another person.

In order to paraphrase correctly, without plagiarising, you should write the information out in a different way than it appears in the original. Do not simply substitute key words for synonyms. When you paraphrase, it is not necessary to place the text between quotation marks, because this text is now yours through being a transformation of the original. However, you must still cite the author and source of the idea or concept that you have paraphrased. If you fail to do this, you are committing plagiarism.

 

If you require advice or assistance, please contact your library.