Copyright policy for the LSE website

What's related > Best practice for web pages: summary

Disclaimer

The Head of Web Services, acting under the authority of the Library and Information Services Committee, may at any time make changes to this policy.

Status

Operational and ratified by WSG.

Target audience

Web editors and their managers.

Introduction

Copyright within the UK and beyond is a legal right which protects creative works – in terms of their form rather than the ideas or views they convey – from illicit copying and distribution. Copyright arises automatically and does not require registration nor formal procedure to establish. By default, the owner of copyright is typically the author of a work. However, ownership may be transferred to other parties (either individuals or organisations) in a variety of ways, eg from employee to employer as contracted, through sale, through waiver, etc. Only the copyright owner has the right to copy or distribute, or permit such use, of a work. Independently of copyright, the author of a work will always maintain moral rights and this includes the right to be identified as the author.

The underlying purpose of copyright is to prevent the unauthorised copying and distribution of a work. While many works may appear to be freely available on the internet, the law of copyright will still apply. Some copyright owners may waive their rights and allow unrestricted copying; however, others will not.

LSE makes a substantial amount of material available through its Website, much of which can be accessed by any User anywhere in the world. LSE is concerned about the potential for infringement of copyright and, in particular, unauthorised commercial exploitation.

This policy establishes how copyright is to be handled with respect to Resources published on the LSE Website whether or not copyright is owned by LSE, and when Syndicated to other Websites when copyright is owned by LSE.

Definition of terms

Resource means a piece of material published on a Website - delineable as a part of a Website yet a whole in and of itself
Third Party means any party other than LSE, including non-LSE students, non-LSE academic staff, publishers, and licensing agencies
User means any person accessing a Resource
Website means a location on the world wide web addressed by a uniform resource locator (URL)
LSE Website means the Website owned by LSE accessed via the URL http://www.lse.ac.uk/
LSE means the London School of Economics and Political Science. The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) is a School of the University of London. It is a charity and is incorporated in England as a company limited by guarantee under the Companies Act (Reg number 70527)
Syndicate means to provide a Resource for re-use either free of charge or for a fee
Metadata means information about a Resource which is stored within or associated with the code of the Resource

The policy

All Resources published on the LSE Website will be associated with both the name of the copyright owner and a license defining permissible use. By default, it will be assumed that the owner of copyright is the employer of a Resource’s creator (or author) unless stated otherwise. Typically, the employer will be LSE with respect to Resources published to the LSE Webiste.

In addition to the owner and licence, the audiences for whom the Resource is being made available should be clearly identified. All three pieces of information will be associated with the Resource as Metadata and will be clearly accessible to the User in the form of a copyright notice. Each Resource, as viewed on screen, will have a general copyright notice at the bottom of each page of the form:

The word ‘Copyright’ will be hyperlinked such that clicking the word reveals the copyright notice plus other information including creation date, modification date, creator(s) (ie author(s)), contributor(s) and publisher(s) (ie whoever published the Resource to the LSE Website). This information is stored as Metadata but extracted for view by software integral to the LSE Website.

The combination of category of owner (LSE or Third Party) and whether a Resource is published to the LSE Website or Syndicated to other Websites, gives rise to three main types of copyright notice:

1) Resources where copyright is owned by LSE and published either to the LSE Website or Syndicated to other Websites (LSE acceptable use)

It is permissible to use such Resources provided that such use does not involve re-use (in whole or in part) or re-distribution. A copyright notice must be included in the metadata of the Resource.

The copyright notice for use with such Resources is provided in Appendix 1 together with instructions for use.

2) Resources where copyright is owned by LSE and published either to the LSE Website or Syndicated to other Websites, but requiring a licence other than acceptable use (LSE licensed use)

Such Resources will have their own licence associated with them. This will be referenced by hyperlink from a general copyright notice, which must be included in the Metadata of the Resource.

The copyright notice for use with such Resources is provided in Appendix 2 together with instructions for use.

3) Resources where copyright is owned by a Third Party and published to the LSE Website (Third Party licensed use)

Such Resources will have their own licence associated with them. This will be referenced by a hyperlink from a general copyright notice, which must be included in the Metadata of the Resource.

The copyright notice for use with such Resources is provided in Appendix 3 together with instructions for use.

In addition to the copyright notice attributed with each resource, the following simple declaration will be added to the LSE home page:

All resources* published to the LSE Website are protected by copyright.

* A resource is material that is delineable as a part of the LSE Website yet a whole in and of itself.

Appendix 1

Resources where copyright is owned by LSE and published either to the LSE Website or Syndicated to other Websites (LSE acceptable use)

The following copyright notice should be used in conjunction with the instructions for use below.

This Resource is copyright London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) and is provided for use by the following audiences only: <<insert audience list>>.

This Resource may be used by the members of the audience(s) listed above provided that this use does not involve re-use [ie copying for the purpose of creating new works] or redistribution [ie distribution of copies or works derived from copies of the Resource] either in part or as a whole.

If proposed use involves re-use or redistribution then please contact <<insert IPR contact>> to determine whether alternative licensing arrangements are required.

Where reference is made to this Resource, copyright ownership should be clearly stated.

Instructions for use

Here, <<insert audience list>> is to be replaced with a list of the audiences for whom this Resource is published. The audience types must be drawn from the fixed list of audience types maintained by LSE Web Services.

<<insert IPR contact>> is to be replaced with the name and contact details of the person responsible for dealing with IPR issues at LSE.

Appendix 2

Resources where copyright is owned by LSE and published either to the LSE Website or Syndicated to other Websites, but requiring a licence other than acceptable use (LSE licensed use)

The following copyright notice should be used in conjunction with the instructions for use below.

This Resource is copyright London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) and is provided for use by the following audiences only: <<insert audience list>>.

The licence covering the use of this Resource is available at: <<insert hyperlinked title of licence>>.

Where reference is made to this Resource, copyright ownership should be clearly stated.

Instructions for use

Here, <<insert hyperlinked title of licence>> needs to be replaced with the title of the applicable licence which is in turn hyperlinked to a web-based version of this licence.

<<insert audience list>> is to be replaced with a list of the audiences for whom this Resource is published. The audience types must be drawn from the fixed list of audience types maintained by LSE Web Services.

Appendix 3

Resources where copyright is owned by a Third Party and published to the LSE Website (Third Party licensed use)

The following copyright notice should be used in conjunction with the instructions for use below.

This Resource is copyright <<insert owner of copyright>>.

The licence covering the use of this Resource is available at: <<insert hyperlinked title of licence>>.

Where reference is made to this Resource, copyright ownership should be clearly stated.

Instructions for use

Here, <<insert owner of copyright>> needs to be replaced with the name of the copyright owner.

<<insert hyperlinked title of licence>> needs to be replaced with the title of the applicable licence which in turn is hyperlinked to a web-based version of the licence.

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