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Copyright

Explaining aspects of copyright to be aware of when studying, lecturing or undertaking research. Please note that information on these pages is for guidance only: it does not constitute formal legal advice.

Electronic storage of material on Moodle

To make a document (whether originally printed or electronic) available on Moodle it is necessary to make an electronic copy and store it in Moodle. Potentially this could cause copyright infringement.

Therefore, it is important to be clear about how published material can be made available to students via Moodle.

Books, journals and other printed material

The library may have electronic access - check CityLibrary Search in case Library Services already has online access via its journal subscription or e-books collections; if so provide a link to the catalogue on Moodle.

If not, single book chapters and journal articles may usually be digitised by library staff under the terms and conditions of the licence which the university holds with the Copyright Licensing Agency (CLA). These items will then be made available via Reading Lists Online (not Moodle). See the information on our digital course readings service for more information about this.

 

A laptop displaying a text document.

Websites and webpages

If you want to use web-based material, check if there is information on the site in question which details what is permissible. This information can usually be found in the "terms and conditions" or "copyright" pages or "about us" section of the site.

As a general rule…

  • Complete web pages should not be copied and uploaded to Moodle. However it is usually acceptable to provide links for students so that they can access web-based material individually for themselves.
  • Avoid "deep linking" and link to home pages wherever possible. Deep links are less stable and URLs may change.
  • Make it clear to students that internet-based material which is referred or linked to within their online course is for their own personal use only and not for distribution, and point out to them any other conditions imposed on you by the website owner.
  • Wherever possible, clearly acknowledge the source (listing URL, copyright holders, and the date you accessed it) of any information you use.

Audio-visual material and images

If you want to put on Moodle any audio-visual material, images or PowerPoint multimedia, make sure that what you are proposing to do is permissible according to fair dealing, or permitted by the rights holder and (if from an online resource) the provider.

Alternatively, City has subscriptions to the following resources, items from which can be linked to from Moodle:

  • British Library Sounds Collection - covers the entire range of recorded sound: music, drama and literature, oral history, wildlife and environmental sounds
  • Media Plus is a collection of film, video and sound material. Includes access to British Paramount News, Channel 4 and 5 News, Gaumont British News and Graphic Newsreel, Programmes as Broadcast (PAB), Reporting 66-67, Reuters News, Roving Report and Visnews as well as a range of ITN material including: Clip Reel, Collections, News, Non-released, Open-ender, Reports and Rushes. To access Media Plus enter your City username and password.
  • Naxos Music Library - the world's largest Classical music listening service, it also includes Jazz, World and Folk music, Chinese music and a limited contemporary collection.

Articles from online journals and e-books

You should only make this type of material available to students on Moodle by using links. It is not usually permissible to upload personal copies of articles, whether from City subscriptions, other institutions or obtained commercially.

To make online journal articles available via Moodle, follow these instructions:

  • Check CityLibrary Search to see if there is an online subscription to the journal in question. If there is, be sure to check that the year you require is covered by the subscription.
  • Click on the journal title to display the full catalogue record.
  • Scroll down to "Bookmark this record" and underneath "Persistent link to this record".
  • Right-click on this link and select "copy link location" from the menu options.
  • Right-click again and "paste" this URL into Moodle.
  • Students then need to click on the date towards the right-hand side of the page, log in and browse to the article in question.

If the journal title concerned is not listed on the catalogue, the Library may be able to make available a copy of the article you want under the terms of the CLA licence, via the reading list for the module. See the information on our digital course readings service for more information.

Users of online journals and ebooks are subject to the terms of licences which are negotiated between suppliers and subscribers. Usually articles may be downloaded only for private study or research and never for commercial purposes. The licences do not permit making downloaded full text copies available on Moodle.

Credits for images on this page

'Still life with laptop' by Frankenstein (CC BY-NC 2.0) Accessed from Flickr 09/07/2015