Copyright

Copyright

He/she who publishes material through LnuPlay is responsible for any copyright laws that may be applied in that material.

As an author of, for instance, a lecture you have an interest in how that "work" is distributed and used. This "interest" is governed by copyright laws. In the same way it dictates how you may, or may not, use an other authors work or parts there of. It means that you can not use material that other people have created without their clear consent (preferably written). The copyright is in place "by default" -that is to say that a picture on a web page can not be used other than for your personal usage, unless other stated.

Creative Commons

The permission to use and distribute copyright protected material can be handed out to others in conjunction with the publishing, and today it has become more and more common to publish your work under the umbrella of Creative Commons License. In that license it clearly states under which conditions the work can be used and spread to others. CC builds on, and clarifies, the Copyright law and as the author you are still the owner of your work. You can read more about Creative commons on their web page https://creativecommons.org

Copying treaty

In order to make it easier for teachers to be allowed to use material that is published under other licenses than Creative Commons, the University has a so called Copying treaty with Bonus Copyright Access, which gives the teacher the right to use copyright protected material in hers/his teaching. For example for compendiums or lectures. After the latest edition of this treaty it is now also applicable on material in digital form, such as video, but with certain limitations.

Read more about this treaty here: (https://www.bonuscopyright.se/upphovsratt/vara-avtal/hogskola-och-universitet/)

Please note that the Bonus treaty does not cover moving pictures or audio! A separate permit is always needed for use of such media.

Ask for permission!

Another way to get permission to use other peoples material is by contacting the copyright holder (which might be a Publishing company) and ask for their permission. If you ask for permission, please make sure to do so in writing, and ask for a written consent in return, for instance via E-mail. Make sure that it clearly states what can be used and in what way it is allowed to be used (distributed/spread). When using or publishing allowed material you must mark it clearly with the source and with the text "With permission".

If you lack permission, or if you can not find a way to contact the author/copyright holder you simply have to defer from using it or spreading it to a third party.

 

To use video and audio

Video and audio are special when it comes to copyright. Here the requirements are extra strict that you who want to use film / audio really have the right to do so. The Bonus treaty, for example, contains a clear exception and you can never claim that any general agreements give you the right to use video or audio files.

For videos, the university has not signed an overall agreement, instead, those who wish to use film in education (or otherwise) have to sign agreements for the individual occasion (signing contracts on behalf of the university must, however, take place in accordance with current decision-making procedures). Organizations that handle copyright for radio / TV and film are Copyswede and Swedish Film.

  • You may never distribute video and / or audio clips without permission from the licensee, not even in a closed course room in the learning platform
  • You may not use all or even parts of a video / audio file in a presentation without permission
  • You are also not allowed to insert clips from radio or television into your work without permission

In fact, you are not even allowed to show movies in a physical classroom without paying a license for it, much less in a digital classroom.

In many cases, this can be solved by signing a separate agreement for film screening, or if required, let it be student literature that students themselves can obtain via some streaming service / rental.

You can find more questions and answers in the Legal Handbook (only in Swedish but use Chrome and have it translated).

At Swedish Film you will find terms and prices for film screenings: https://www.swedishfilm.com/SE/priser-villkor.aspx

Media on YouTube also have protection. Creative Commons licenses are often used there, but it is not certain that you may use material completely freely. Be sure to read what applies to the particular media you want to use.

Learn more about YouTube and copyright.