Copyright FAQs

In the UK, the author of a work is the first owner of any copyright in it, therefore YOU will own the copyright in your PhD thesis! As a general rule, students will own the copyright in their PhD unless their degree was sponsored by their (former) employer, in which case they will own the copyright.

As copyright owner, you can use your thesis in any way you want. You may decide to publish your work but make sure to read the contract before signing it to understand what will happen to your rights under the publishing agreement. If there are certain rights that you would like to retain then you must negotiate before signing the contract.

Plagiarism is an ethical issue whereas copyright infringement is a legal issue. 

Plagiarism is using someone else's ideas or work (even if it is out of copyright) without giving proper credit. For example, passing off a few lines from Shakespeare as your own. Plagiarism is usually addressed by university policy and will have negative repercussions if violated, but it is not a legal matter.

Copyright infringement appears when one of the exclusive economic rights granted by copyright are used without permission from author or right owner. It is important to note that not all uses without permission of copyright materials are considered infringement, as some may fall under exceptions like fair dealing or fair use.  Copyright infringement can have serious legal consequences, including fines and lawsuits.

Open Access usually refers to scientific outputs (such as monographs, research articles, data, etc.) that are freely accessible online without paywalls or subscription fees. Users can read, download, and often share this content without any cost. Making content available as open access can be considered a unilateral act of generosity or a 'liberality' by the copyright holder who waives some of their rights.

Creative Commons is a set of licenses that authors can apply to their work, specifying how others can use it. These open licenses might allow users to share, modify, or even use the content commercially, depending on the specific terms of the license. Unlike open access, Creative Commons licences are backed up by legal terms that are enforceable in a court of law.

In summary, Open Access ensures content is free to access, while Creative Commons provides specific permissions on how that content can be used.

Of course. At first glance this may appear to be prohibited by copyright law, but copying limited material such as an article from a journal issue or an extract from a book for your own private study is allowed as long as it is 'fair dealing'. The purpose of this exception is to provide students and researchers boarder access to resources even though they may be protected by copyright. 

The exception for research and private study applies to all types of works protected by copyright and can be invoked only if:

• the purpose of the use is non-commercial research and/or private study
• the use of the materials is fair
• researchers or students will use the extracts for their own use only
• the copyright holder is properly acknowledged 

Under “fair dealing”, you may use portions of other people's works for the purposes of non-commercial research or study, criticism or review or the reporting of current events. If your use of these materials goes beyond the scope of fair dealing, then you should seek permission from the copyright holder. Note that fair dealing does not extend to the use of materials in teaching. To include copies of texts in course packs you should contact the library’s E-Reserve service or the Resource List service.

You can use the Library’s E-Reserve service or the Resource List service to request copies of texts to be used as readings for specific courses. The library will ensure that you receive copyright-cleared copies of texts for use of students on those courses only. The University holds a number of licences to allow copyrighted materials to be used for educational purposes. Please contact the Copyright Enquiries Service for more details.

Please contact the creator of the work. If you are unable to trace the creator, please contact the Copyright Enquiries Service with details of the material you wish to reproduce and they will attempt to locate the creator.

There are a number of ways that staff and students can make use of the E-reserve service. Full information can be found on the E-reserve service website.

Copyright in a University of Edinburgh thesis is retained by the author. The University makes most theses available to the public either in print or online. Copies of small portions of theses may be made under “fair dealing”. For more substantial copies, please contact the Scholarly Communications Team. Many theses are available to read on an Open Access basis via Edinburgh Research Archive.

When you create a new work, you automatically own the copyright in it (unless you created the work for an employer). There is no need to apply for or register copyright. You may choose to add a copyright symbol (©) to your work, but there is no specific need to do so, copyright is automatic. Note that copyright protects works, not ideas.

For information on applying an open licence such as Creative Commons to your work, advice is provided by the Open Education Service.

'Fair dealing' is a legal doctrine under UK copyright law that allows limited use of copyrighted material without needing permission from the copyright holder, under certain conditions. It is similar to 'fair use' in other jurisdictions like the United States.

Fair dealing typically applies in the following copyright exceptions:

Research and Private Study - Individuals can use copyrighted material for their own research or private study, provided it is non-commercial and does not affect the market value of the original work.

Quotation, Criticism & Review - It allows for the use of copyrighted material when criticizing, reviewing, or quoting, as long as the use is fair and accompanied by sufficient acknowledgment of the source.

News Reporting - Fair dealing permits the use of copyrighted works for reporting current events, provided the work is relevant to the event being reported and is properly attributed.

Parody, Caricature, and Pastiche - It allows the use of copyrighted works for creating parodies or caricatures, as long as the use is fair.

The concept of fairness is key, and whether a particular use qualifies as fair dealing depends on factors like the amount of the work used, the purpose of the use, and its impact on the market for the original work.

If you wish to publish a work which contains significant parts of someone else’s work then you should seek permission to reproduce this. Your publishers should be able to advise you, but you can also contact the Scholarly Communications Team.

You can adapt the template below to contact a copyright-holder by email or by post. If you wish to reproduce a work for non-commercial, academic research purposes we advise that you highlight this in your communications. It is important to remember that a lack of response does not signify permission being granted.

The ownership of copyright for works created while at the university depends on the type of work and the creator’s role.

For works created by academic staff, copyright usually belongs to the university if the works are created as a part of their employment. This is valid for teaching materials. For scholarly works, the current practice is that authors own the copyright in their scholarly works. The Research Publications & Copyright Policy (2021) confirms this practice and also stipulates that “upon acceptance of publication each staff member with a responsibility for research agrees to grant the University of Edinburgh a non‐exclusive, irrevocable, worldwide licence to make manuscripts of their scholarly articles publicly available under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) licence, or a more permissive licence” which will be deposited in a digital repository.

Generally, students will retain copyright in the works they create, such as theses or dissertations, unless they were part of a funded project where the university or their employer may have a claim. 

For work created by non-academic staff, such as administrative or technical staff, the copyright is typically owned by the university if it is produced as part of their employment.