 MYTH
1
It is alright to copy 5 percent of a
copyright work without breaching copyright.
Untrue. The
legislation does not specify a percentage that is acceptable
in all circumstances. The courts would look to see whether all
or a 'substantial part' of the work has been copied. The
problem is that 'substantial' can relate to quality just as
much as quantity. A small but key part of the work could be
ruled by a court to be a'substantial part'.
MYTH
2
The information is accessible to
anyone on the World Wide Web. It is therefore in the public
domain and internet users have an implied licence to copy the
material.
Untrue. Just because information
is accessible on the Web, there is no implied licence to copy
it. Under UK law, copyright material sent over the internet or
stored on Web servers will generally be protected in the same
way as material in other media.
MYTH
3
My whole site was designed by a
professional Website designer. I paid them for the work, and
therefore they will have checked that it is alright to use the
clip art, pictures, and other material.
Not necessarily. Not all Website
designers will check that the material used has been cleared
for copyright purposes.
MYTH
4
I have acknowledged the source from
which I got the information, therefore copyright has not been
breached.
Untrue. Whilst it is true that
you sometimes see copyright notices on Websites stating that
copying is allowed so long as the source is acknowledged, this
does not apply to all content. It does not mean that you can
automatically copy big chunks of everything that you want to
copy just because you acknowledge the source.
MYTH
5
There is no copyright symbol on the
work, so it can't be protected by copyright.
Untrue. Copyright protection is
automatic. There isn't a formal registration process that an
author has to go through to have the rights to a work; nor do
they need to put a (c) on the work in order to claim copyright
protection.
MYTH
6
The database is on the Web and it
just consists of a list of names and addresses so it can't be
protected by copyright, and it must be alright to copy.
Untrue. With the introduction of
'database right' through the Copyright and Rights in Databases
Regulations 1997, a database could still be protected by
database right, even if it isn't protected by copyright.
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MYTH
7
The full text of the journal article
was posted to a discussion list. The person who posted it to
the list will have obtained copyright clearance.
Untrue. It is incredible how often
you see people asking if anyone has a copy of an article that
they are looking for, and a helpful person then responds by
posting the full text of the article to the discussion list on
which the enquirer has made the request. They might not have
even considered the copyright implications of their actions.
MYTH
8
Anyone can copy material on the Web
using fair dealing for research as a defence.
Untrue. The implementation of
the Copyright Directive (2001/29/EC) means that fair dealing
for research or private study is restricted to fair dealing
for a non-commercial purpose or private study.
MYTH
9
I am entitled to make a copy of the
work on my Website because I am not charging people for the
material.
Untrue. If you publish someone
else's work to your own Website without permission, copyright
is infringed regardless of whether or not you charge people
for the copied material.
MYTH
10
I have only created a link to the
document rather than making copies of it. There are no
potential legal problems with doing that.
Untrue: If the link is to a pdf,
for example, it could be argued that each time the link is
clicked, the entire work is being 'published'. There are
plenty of legal hazards from hyperlinking, particularly if you
are using frames technology. You could be accused of 'passing
off' other people's material as your own.
This article, reprinted with
permission from Free Pint Newsletter No.140 has outlined a
number of misunderstandings which commonly occur regarding
copyright law. These are explored in much greater detail in
the report Copyright & the Internet: Myth and Reality
available from FreePint
.
Paul Pedley
is Head of Research at the Economist Intelligence Unit, and
has previously worked in the information departments of a law
firm, property developer, and in a number of government
departments.He is a Fellow of CILIP and Editor of
KeepingLegal.com. The service covers legal issues affecting
the information profession such as data protection, copyright
and freedom of information. There is a fortnightly newsletter
which can be requested via the site.
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