Most copying by individual members of staff and students to support their studies or research will be carried out under the copyright exceptions, with fair dealing in mind. However, this does not cover the making of multiple copies, for example, to give out to students in a class. To enable staff to do this without infringing copyright, the University subscribes to the Copyright Licensing Agency Higher Education Licence. The current licence (2024-2027) permits the making of:
Multiple photocopies of limited extracts from printed sources covered by the licence (paper to paper).
Digital copies of limited extracts scanned from printed sources covered by the licence that may be linked to a reading list application from a course repository (e.g. LearningZone), downloaded and printed out.
For multiple copying of those items which do not fall within the terms of the CLA licence, permission will be required from the copyright owner. To ensure that the University is compliant, the Library and Learning Services will continue to receive all request via DMU Resource List and will advise accordingly. Multiple copying may not be covered by the licence because:
You wish to use material which exceeds the licensed copying extent limits;
You wish to use material from publishers or countries for which the CLA holds no mandate;
The copy is sourced from a photocopy from a book, journal or magazine not owned by DMU, and where the master copy is not a copyright fee paid one.
The licence does not permit unrestricted copying, and requires the University to ensure that the specified limits are adhered to. The same extent limits apply to photocopies and to digital copies. Provided these overall limits are not exceeded, copies may be issued to students either collated as course packs or as separate items throughout the course of study. However, staff must avoid creating course packs which can clearly be shown to be substitutable for a published work, especially undergraduate textbooks (e.g. a compilation of articles and extracts which materially follow a published compilation).
For any discrete course of study (module) the proportion of any one licensed item which may be copied must not exceed either singly or in aggregate the greater of 10% of any published edition or
in the case of a book, one complete chapter;
in the case of an article in an issue of a serial publication or in a set of conference proceedings, two whole articles or up to a whole issue if it is devoted to a particular theme. Regarding the latter, further guidance is forthcoming;
in the case of an anthology of short stories or poems, one short story or poem not exceeding ten (10) pages in length; and
in the case of a published report of judicial proceedings, the entire report of a single case.
For the avoidance of doubt:
chapter-specific footnotes or bibliographic references shall be deemed to form part of a “chapter” (wherever located in the book); and
the use of different editions of the same book to make copies of more than one (1) chapter or 10% during any one Course of Study shall be a breach of the License.
No systematic or repeat copying beyond these limits is allowed.
The number of copies made of any one item may not exceed the number required to ensure the tutor and each student on the course has a copy.
Copies may be made in the UK only – neither paper nor digital copies may be made by staff or students based overseas. Photocopying may be carried out in the UK both on and off campus provided that it is only by or for the benefit of authorised persons (i.e staff and students of the University). Scanning of materials for incorporation into electronic course packs is subject to special rules; see Request Digitisation for more detailed information.
Overseas Campus-Based Students are those students that are registered DMU students, but under a range of possible models – based at a campus overseas (generally the campus of an overseas branch of DMU, or of a third-party organisation which we are in partnership with, e.g. collaborative provisions, consortia and joint awards).
OCBS element of the Copyright Licensing Agency HE Licence provides access for declared OCBS students to paper and digital copies made in the UK, in connection with the course on which they are registered, where the digitised extracts are made available from the DMU Resource Lists. Access to such digitised content is also available for staff teaching those courses that are declared.
Please contact the Copyright Officer for further information.
Copies may only be made from material licensed by the CLA. This includes most material published in the UK and much from other mandating territories. See the CLA website for these and for current lists of excluded works (Note that the mandating territories for photocopying are more extensive than those for scanning).
Multiple copies may be made from a copy, provided that the University owns the printed work, or the copy has been obtained copyright-fee paid from the British Library or similar, or you have the written permission of the copyright holder and can produce this on request.
Specific types of material, as well as those from particular territories and publishers, are not covered by the licence:
Printed music (including words)
Maps and charts
Workbooks, workcards and assignment sheets
any work on which the copyright owner has expressly and prominently stipulated that it may not be copied under a CLA license.
Copies may be made for:
All full-time and part-time undergraduate and taught postgraduate students, including distance learners (UK and overseas), and those on non-credit bearing courses (i.e. those courses which do not lead to an award or qualification, such as Continuing and Adult Education or Continuing Professional Development).
The licence also makes special provision for accessible copies for all forms of disability for students and staff.