Author Rights

Copyright is recognized internationally thanks to international conventions. So, generally, your copyright will be protected in other countries. But it is protected under that country’s laws so there may be some differences from the level of protection you would get in the UK, Canada and European Union. If you’re concerned about someone’s use of your work overseas, you will need to check the particular jurisdiction’s copyright laws to confirm whether they are infringing your copyright.

You ask! If your use isn’t permitted by a licence, or one of the exceptions in the Copyright Act (UK), Copyright Act (Canada) and Copyright Act (EU), you will need to ask for permission. The permission must come from the copyright owner so the first step is to identify who the copyright owner is and whether there is an organization that represents the owner. There are a number of copyright collectives who can give you permission (in the form of a licence) on behalf of the copyright owner to use their work. So, for example, if you want to use music and your use doesn’t fall within any of the Copyright Act’s exceptions, you may be able to obtain permission from copyright collectives such as the Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers.

But if the copyright owner is easily identifiable and locatable, it can sometimes be easier to contact them directly as many copyright owners will give permission to academic users without requiring payment. Usually you’ll be able to identify the owner somewhere on the work by looking for the copyright symbol ©, which should have the copyright owner’s name next to it. You’ll often find this at the beginning of a book, at the side of a photograph or at the bottom of a webpage. Once you’ve located the owner, simply email or write to him/her, explaining how and why you want to use the work and requesting permission. The permission should be in writing. The Additional Resources page contains a request for permission template as a guide. An email will suffice. It is not advisable to rely on verbal permission. You should also keep a file record of who gave the permission, what was permitted, the date, and how to contact the person who gave the permission.

Moral rights are additional rights held by authors of literary, dramatic, musical and artistic works. They consist of rights that protect the integrity of a work and the reputation of its author. The right of attribution is the right to always be identified as the author of a work or to remain anonymous. The right of integrity is the right not to have a work modified or associated with goods or services in a way that is prejudicial to the author’s reputation. These rights are important for authors to ensure they get appropriate recognition for their works and for prohibiting any prejudicial changes to their works.

The School has special arrangements relating to copyright ownership and use, set out in Policy 15 – Intellectual Property Rights. Under this policy, faculty, staff and participants will generally own the copyright in works they create through teaching and research, with certain exceptions, such as works created as “assigned research tasks” to assist the operation, administration and/or management of the School’s affairs. The School temporarily retains a non-exclusive, free, irrevocable licence to copy and/or use copyright in scholarly works created in the course of teaching and research activities until they are assigned to either the start-up that the participants form, or if no start-up, the company initiated the research. However, The School retains all course academic material and some technical research material for the sole purpose of other School teaching and research activities, but excluding further sublicensing or distribution to persons or organizations outside the School community. Policy 15 also expressly recognizes that participants own the copyright in their theses.

Ownership can however be affected by agreements with industry sponsors or joint authors, who may have an interest in the works which they have helped to create or fund. Ultimately, ownership will depend on the facts of your situation and you should contact the DESC Commercialization Office (DESCo) if you are unsure about the ownership of your work.

The School has guidelines for Faculty, Staff and participants Entering Relationships with External Organizations Offering Access to Course Materials. These guidelines provide sample text (see the bottom half of the guidelines) that can be inserted in your syllabus to protect the intellectual property contained in the course, whether it is created by you or others.