In the UK, Copyright Law protects images and photographs which are considered to be artistic works. It also protects films, broadcasts and sound recordings. In general, you will need permission to copy such works for educational purposes unless:
- the items are out of copyright, you are the copyright holder; you have explicit permission to use the image from the copyright owner; you have implicit permission to use the image under licence / terms and conditions.
If a colleague has produced materials which you want to include in your web site it is only courteous to discuss this with them. Remember, permission is also required to adapt material produced by someone else.
For films, copyright expires seventy years after the last to die of:
- the principal director; the author of the screenplay; the author of the dialogue; the composer of the music created for and used in the film.
For sound recordings, broadcasts, cable programmes and computer-generated works, copyright lasts until fifty years after the end of the year in which they were first made, released, broadcast or included in a cable programme service. Please note that off-air recordings of broadcast TV and radio can be made under the Educational Recording Agency (ERA) Licence that is held by the School (see below).
Images, including photographs, are protected for 70 years after the year of a known author's death. For works of unknown authorship, copyright expires 70 years from the end of the calendar year in which the work was made or made available to the public. For more information about copyright and images see Images and maps (A short guide to copyright for LSE staff).
Copyright free collections
There are several image and multimedia collections available which include copyright-free or copyright-cleared images which you can use in your teaching. The images can be incorporated into your PowerPoint presentations and handouts or your online course. Please see the Multimedia Resources page for further details.
Slides in Moodle
Slides from your own lectures for which you hold the copyright can be easily incorporated into a Moodle course. However you will need copyright permission to use materials which belong to other individuals.
ERA Licence
It is possible to include TV / radio excerpts which have been recorded under the ERA (Educational Recording Agency Licence).
An excerpt may be shown, but not edited to incorporate other material.
Any excerpt must be clearly identified with the programme title, date of recording and channel, together with a statement saying it was recorded under the terms of the ERA Licence. However, this material cannot be distributed beyond the LSE campus.
Further Help
Contact:
Jane Secker j.secker@lse.ac.uk
Copyright and Digital Literacy Advisor
Tel: 020 7955 6530
Training:
Training is available on a one-to one basis and in small groups. See the Digital Literacy programme to access courses for academic staff, VLE course designers and PhD Students.
Other resources:
Powerpoint slides and additional resources are also available in Moodle on Copyright, the internet and teaching online (Log in required).
Film reels by Holger Ellgaard on Wikimedia commons
