FAQs: Copying from books for use in course materials

Yes. If you are sure that the book or publication is out of print or otherwise unavailable within a reasonable period of time and at an ordinary retail price, you may copy more than the 10% or one chapter. This 'commercial availability' test does not need to include books that are for sale as second-hand items. You should retain evidence of the book being out of print/unavailable in case of an audit (ie, an email verifying out of print / unavailable status from the bookshop; a print out of the page on Amazon or similar indicating that the book is no longer available).

No. If the image exists for the purpose of illustrating or explaining the text then this image is considered incidental to the copying of that text.

No, the pages within the 10% do not have to be consecutive. Please note that if you wish to have the pages digitised and made available online (i.e. via the Library's Readings and Reserve service / Digitisation unit) list all the various pages in a single digitisation request.

As a general rule, disregard the front matter of a book and count only the pages which feature the main numbering system within the book or text: usually this will be in arabic numerals. Another way to approach it is to consider whether the non-arabic numeral pages are actually part of the intellectual content of the work: are they superfluous to the intellectual content? Are they merely there as part of the published edition or layout or presentation of the edition? If the pages seem to be part of the main intellectual content of the work then it is fair to assume that they need to be included in the 'total page' count for the text and you then make your 10% assessment including those pages. An example of such a work may be a book in which the main text is a translation of a foreign language text, but is accompanied by a detailed explanatory section or introduction. Similarly, some literature classics may be accompanied by lengthy editorial discussions, often paginated in the roman style numeric system. Such elements are still part of the intellectual content of the book, would be akin to one whole chapter and should be included in the total count when assessing '10% of the total pages'.

No. The 10% or one chapter limit from a given source work (book) applies for an entire unit of study - the entire course materials 'package' provided to the student, irrespective of the format in which the material is delivered (print, electronic or online). The educational allowance provided by the Part VB 'CAL' licence does not permit you to have one chapter online for your students, and another included in the reader and a third provided as a handout during lectures, and so on, even if this is done over the course of several weeks or months.

If you need to copy or provide more than the 10% or one chapter allowance, during the running of your unit, you need to apply for permission directly from the copyright holder (book publisher or author) for the whole amount required. Under the VB 'CAL' licence Students must not receive more than 10% or one chapter of a work during their enrolment in a particular unit of study.

If two chapters/excerpts from the same book are desired for two separate units (one for a third-year class and another for a post-graduate class, for example) this may be deemed reasonable under the Part VB 'CAL' licence: because the two excerpts from the same book are not going to the same group of students. Note however for online use: both chapters or excerpts cannot be made available online at the same time.

Yes, but remember that, for the online version, you will need to ensure the Part VB copyright warning notice is displayed AND be sure that no other part of the same book is online anywhere else in the University! Best ask the Library's Readings and Reserve service / Digitisation unit to organise the online version (they'll apply the notice and check on the University-wide limit for online use).

If the later edition is not substantially different to the earlier edition (essentially the same text but with a few stylistic changes or occasional updated data), and you want bits from both editions, apply the 10% limit across both editions (eg. you may end up copying about 4% from the first edition and the remaining 6% from the later edition - to give you your 10% allowance). If the two editions are substantially different (eg. if the chapter structure is different and new chapters have been added) then 10% or one chapter of each work may be copied, provided the excerpts to be copied are not already available in just the one edition.

Yes: but be aware that the limits on copying imposed by the Part VB 'CAL' licence should really be applied across the whole unit study materials 'package'. So, provided the handout does not constitute an additional chapter or 10% from a given source book, alongside one already provided in a reader/unit guide or online, then you may provide the chapter or 10% excerpt as a handout distributed in class.

Be aware also that if the handout material has been sourced from an online database or e-journal, the VB 'CAL' licence limits do not apply, and you'll need to verify instead with the Library's licensing section as to whether multiple print outs of the article can be made and distributed under that e-journal's particular licence.

No. If you are aware that someone else has already 'triggered' the 10% or one chapter limit for online use for that particular book, you cannot rely on the educational allowance (provided by the Part VB 'CAL' licence) to make your desired excerpt or chapter available in MUSO. The Library's Readings and Reserve service / Digitisation unit may be able to help negotiate a 'staggered' delivery of both excerpts; or you may choose to seek permission directly from the publisher to make your desired chapter or excerpt available separately for your students.