Research, publishing and licensing
Information and guidance about copyright, publishing and research data.
Introduction
As a researcher you will frequently make use of third-party copyright material. You will also produce intellectual creations of your own. This section deals with these issues.
We will go through the importance of retaining control of and licensing your work. We will also look at use of copyright material in theses.
Research data is a growing area that necessitates an understanding of licensing and reuse. Finally, we will go through sharing copyright materials and useful links to further information.
Copyright and research publications
The Research Publications and Copyright Policy allows University of Sheffield staff and PGRs to control copyright in their journal articles and conference proceedings papers, and helps you to comply with external funding requirements. Guidance on how to comply with the policy is available here, and further information on complying with funder open access policies can be seen here.
Third-party material
Third-party copyrighted material refers to content used in your work where the copyright belongs to anyone other than yourself.
Some use of third-party material is permitted under copyright exceptions, but otherwise, you must obtain permission to reproduce this type of material.
If you are unsure about whether your use falls under a copyright exception, contact us for guidance. It is especially important to consider your use of third-party material when publishing open access.
Some third-party works, such as images of artwork, carry high reproduction fees when the material is being made freely available online so it may be necessary to pay for worldwide digital rights to reproduce this type of material in your work.
It is always worth trying to find third-party material such as images that are openly licensed and do not require permission to use.
Use of copyright material
In the UK, the use of material owned by a third party - another author, photographer, publisher, etc. - is governed by the Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988.
Making your thesis available online constitutes publication and therefore you should ensure that you have permission to include third-party material.
Permission can come in several forms:
- if the work is old (generally copyright exists for 70 years following the death of the author),
- if re-use of the work is covered by an open licence such as Creative Commons,
- if there is an exception in law which applies to your use. This will usually be for a small amount of a published work.
If the extract does not fall under any of the terms above you will need to seek permission directly from the copyright holder.
If the material is from a published book it is best to contact the publisher of the work in the first instance.
Many large publishers have rights and permissions departments used to dealing with copyright clearance; email addresses can often be found on publishers' websites.
It is important to realise that no response does not mean permission is granted.
Where permission to use the third-party copyright material is obtained, you should make sure that clear acknowledgements are provided within the thesis, and that a written record of all correspondence is kept.
If clearance is not obtained to use copyright material that you consider essential, there are two options:
- embargo the electronic thesis (you will still need to submit an electronic copy to the University as well as a printed copy),
- edit the electronic thesis - but not the printed copy - so that it complies with third-party copyright requirements, clearly indicating the excisions made.
Further information about copyright can be found here.
All newly-registered research students are strongly encouraged to undertake training on using copyright materials.
Details of training events will be posted via the link above, or contact your librarian for further information.
Referencing
It is important to acknowledge your sources correctly when using a short extract from third-party material. It is also important to reference correctly to avoid any accusations of plagiarism.
Third-party copyright in unpublished material
Unpublished material may attract copyright in manuscripts, accounts, minutes etc. If the author, artist or creator has been dead for more than 50 years and the work is over 100 years old, it is probably out of copyright.
However, most unpublished works will still be in copyright until 2039 and this includes photographs.
Research data management
Data may be protected by copyright if the content is original, although facts are not copyrightable. A database itself may be protected by virtue of the work that went into designing or creating it.
This is known as Sui generis database right, which is distinct from copyright, and may protect the structure of the database (see The Copyright and Rights and Databases Regulations 1997).
The intellectual property(IP) and copyright in the data that you create as part of your work at the University of Sheffield are owned by the institution.
This is to protect it so it can be used for the benefit of the institution and to make sure any commercial use of the IP is handled properly.
This should not prevent you from using or sharing data, but you will need to think about who is responsible for it; this should be made clear in your data management plan. You should apply for a licence which allows appropriate reuse.
If you are using other researchers' data you will need to consider if the licence allows you to do what you want. You can always contact another researcher for additional permission. This may also have implications for sharing derivatives or analyses that you have made.
Care needs to be taken when accessing or distributing data across borders, as laws are not the same, even across Europe.
Text and data mining
Text and data mining (TDM) is the process of extracting information from existing files, usually using computational methods.
The files being mined can range from a single document to a database, to entire social media platforms. There are several steps to most TDM activities, including data cleansing and indexing, but the first step is to gather the sources to be used.
A temporary copy of the files is often made to enable the content to be processed, and this has implications for copyright.
Copyright and text & data mining
An exception to copyright, introduced into UK law in 2014, allows you to make copies of whole works to which you have ‘lawful access’ (such as via a library subscription) for this purpose.
This exception does not permit commercial use, nor does it allow the copies to be transferred to those who do not already have access to the original materials.
Open licences such as Creative Commons can pose a technical barrier to this kind of reuse for mining. The law allows some relaxation of attribution, but you will still need to make reasonable efforts to give credit to the creators of the work you use.
Releasing data under a licence such as CC0 - no attribution required - can facilitate TDM activity.
Support for text & data mining from the University library
Many of the databases the Library subscribes to explicitly permit text & data mining. We have collated a list of publishers and resources which students and staff at The University of Sheffield can mine.
If the resource you would like to use is not on this list, or you would like assistance in mining one of our databases, please contact us.
We are particularly keen to hear from researchers who are at the planning stage of their projects to see how we can support you.
Text and data mining is enabled by default due to the exception for research provided in Section 29A of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
We do not sign contracts which would undermine these rights and instead include technical measures that allow University researchers to easily use computational techniques on the content.
Blocked from text & data mining
We need researchers to tell us about times when they've been blocked from mining content due to licensing or technical barriers. European copyright law is changing in 2021.
In order to maintain parity, and to secure the strongest possible rights for UK-based researchers, we require examples to help us to advocate on your behalf. Fill out LIBER’s short survey below.
Licences
Please visit our Licences webpages for more information.
Sharing copyrighted materials
Research groups within the University
Here we would like to offer some advice on the best ways to share material with colleagues in your Research groups.
For print and electronic resources provided by the University, where possible, share a link to the publication.
This does not infringe copyright and your colleagues will be able to access the material through their own accounts.
Where the material is covered by our copyright licence you are allowed to copy one chapter/article or 10% of a publication (whichever is the greater) to share with University members of your research groups.
If material is not available through University subscriptions, open access repositories or our library catalogue you may be able to obtain copies through InterLibrary requests.
However, please remember that these are supplied for private study and should not be shared.
Research groups with members from several different institutions
Cross-institution research groups are becoming increasingly common and sharing papers within these groups can be problematic.
However, it can be done. Where possible share a link to the publication. This does not infringe copyright and your colleagues will be able to access provided they have the appropriate subscription at their institution.
If subscriptions are not available there is always an option for an individual to request a copy through their Interlending service.
For all types of research groups
Use open access versions of works. These will be either the published versions offered via the journal website or the author's accepted manuscript which has been through peer review and had the final edits made prior to publishing.
Use Unpaywall and the Open access button to gain access, through repositories, to versions of scholarly publications which are legally free to use.
Open access articles are usually made available under Creative Commons licences. There may be restrictions on commercial and derivative use and sharing, so pay attention to any particular licensing requirements.
Helpful links
ALCS (Authors' Licensing and Collecting Society)
A charity that helps authors receive pay for their work.
Exceptions, fair dealing and reuse
Information and guidance on copyright exceptions, fair dealings and reuse of images/other media.
View our exceptions, fair dealing and reuse pages
Copyright User
An independent online resource aimed at making UK Copyright Law accessible to creators, media professionals, entrepreneurs, students, and members of the public.
View exceptions pages on Copyright User
View text & data mining pages on Copyright User
DACS (The Design and Artists Copyright Society)
A not-for-profit, visual artists’ rights management organisation.
Data mining: why the EU’s proposed copyright measures get it wrong
Information about data mining in relation to EU law.
Extract from the Policy on Good Research and Innovation Practices
Information about good research and innovation practices in managing research data.
Fortney, Katie, “Who 'owns' your data?,” Dominican University GSLIS Omeka Site
Information about data ownership, rights and responsibilities.
Hargreaves report
A report regarding the national and international intellectual property system.
IPO exceptions to copyright - Research
Information about copyright exceptions from the Intellectual Property Office.
Regulations relating to staff intellectual property
University guidelines from the Finance and Commercial department.
Permission letter template
A template for requesting the use of a person's or organisation's work.
Regulation XXIII: regulations relating to Intellectual Property
University regulations on using the work of others.
Sherpa Romeo
An online resource that analyses open access policies from around the world and provides summaries of copyright and open access archiving policies.