Guidance on how UK copyright law applying to using images in various educational contexts, and how to quickly find licensed sources of images.

1. a student’s guide
Monique Ritchie
Research Librarian and Copyright Officer
Library, Brunel University

2. Reasons for wanting to use images…

3. An image is a form of
artistic work

4. and might be found
• online
• in print
• in published
materials
• in unpublished
collections

5. WHAT THE LAW SAYS
 What does copyright law say about image copyright?
 Are there any exceptions and other legal issues?
 What does this mean for my use of images?

6. The law says
• The creator is the first owner of copyright in an
image, unless
– the rights are transferred to a third party in an
assignment of copyright, e.g. where the image
has been commissioned
– or the image is made by an employee in the
course of employment, in the absence of any
agreement stating otherwise

7. The law also says
• The copyright owner enjoys exclusive rights to
control the sale, publication, adaptation or other
form of dissemination of their work.
• The copyright owner also has independent exclusive
rights to control the electronic communication of
their work even where other forms of
communication have been authorised.

8. Do any exceptions apply?
• Yes.The fair dealing statutory exceptions in UK
copyright law allows students to use copyright works,
including images, without permission provided that use
is non-commercial and is for the purposes of research
and private study, or for criticism and review.
You should be certain that you can justify your use under
all the terms of the fair dealing exceptions.
– Fair dealing exceptions: ss.29-30Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988
– See also the Library web pages on fair dealing:
www.brunel.ac.uk/services/library/learning/copyright/fair-dealing

9. Do any exceptions apply?
• Yes.The copying for instruction exception [ss.32 (1)
and (2A)] in UK copyright law allows staff and
students to copy images without permission
provided you do the copying yourself, you have
acknowledged the creator and owner, and is not
copied by reprographic means (e.g. photocopied).
• This means no multiple photocopying for handouts,
but you can download a single copy to display in
class or on a poster. You should be certain that you
can justify your use under all the terms of the
instruction exception.
– Copying for the purposes of instruction and examination: s.32
http://www.jenkins.eu/copyright-(statutes)(1)/part-1-copyright-.asp#s32

10. Do any exceptions apply?
• Yes.The examination exception [ss.32 (3)] in UK
copyright law allows staff and students to copy images
made available to the public without permission.You
should acknowledge the source unless this is impractical.
• Continuous assessment is unlikely to be considered an
examination, however a discrete, graded unit of final
assessment such as a final year project, dissertation or
thesis or similar, should be covered.You should be
certain that you can justify your use under all the terms
of the examination exception.
– Copying for the purposes of instruction and examination: s.32
http://www.jenkins.eu/copyright-(statutes)(1)/part-1-copyright-.asp#s32

11. Where are the statutory exceptions?
• Statutory exceptions (or permissions) in the
Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 relevant
to you:
– Fair dealing: non-commercial private study or
research s.29
– Fair dealing: criticism or review s.30
– Instruction or examinations s.32
www.jenkins.eu/copyright-(statutes)(1)/part-1-index.asp

12. Any other legal issues?
• Third party content contained should be cleared
for electronic dissemination to the public –
exclusive right of copyright owners
• Substantial use of third party content which is
not cleared may need to be removed to avoid
online infringement
– Is it substantial or insubstantial? Substantial use requires written
permission, while insubstantial use can often be left in if a
statutory exception applies – but there is ALWAYS a risk

13. So what does this mean for images in…?
• Your thesis
• Your dissertation
• Your coursework
• Examinations
• Posters and conferences
• Blackboard Learn / intranet
• Personal websites
• Social media:Twitter, Facebook, blogs, etc.

15. Using images for aesthetics
• Permission should be obtained if images are used
purely for aesthetic purposes (perhaps as in this
particular slide!) and do not add anything to the
academic context or the understanding of the
concept being illustrated.Tricky - this is highly
subjective!

16. Images in posters and
presentations
• If they are used as part of your assessment
or for research or private study or is the
subject of critique or review, it is fine to use
images which have been lawfully made
available.
• You will need permission to
share them more widely.
Image ©Brunel University

17. Images in conference materials
• If the images are used in a non-commercial*
academic or research context, it may be fine to
show in a conference presentation, or in printed
papers. See fair dealing for research purposes.
• You will need permission to share them more
widely online and in print, e.g. archiving on a
conference website, publish in a repository or
journal, for educational purposes.
*You must not be paid and the conference must not be organised by or for a
commercial organisation or for commercial purposes.

18. Images in Blackboard, blogs,
social media
• If your work is to be shared in Blackboard or shared
University network, the public facing internet,
including personal blogs or websites, social media,
etc. you need to choose an image which can be
shared freely (or remove it) to be sure you will not
infringe.

19. GETTING PERMISSION
 When do I need permission and how do I get it?
 What if I’ve asked for permission and I don’t hear back?
 How do I reference and cite images?

20. When do I need permission?
• You can make use of the exceptions for
examination purposes (s.32), criticism and review
(s.30) and fair dealing (s.29).
• Any further use will require advance permission
or a licence as it is an infringement to distribute
material used under a statutory exception for any
other purpose.

21. When do I need permission?
• You need permission to share third party material
if you are communicating the work to the public.
• The definition of ‘public’ includes fellow students
(except where they are part of the assessment),
staff not involved in assessing your work, the
general public, and any form of electronic
archiving or dissemination accessible to anyone
other than yourself – Blackboard, internet, social
media, etc.

22. How do I get permission?
• Just ask!
– You may need to do some
due diligence searching to
find out who the rights
owner is.
• Be aware!
– Images are some of the most
pirated content on the web!
So use reputable sources or
try to check that the site
really owns the image.

23. How do I get permission?
• Make your request in writing (e-mail is OK) stating all
intended purposes, where it will appear, for how
long, and who will see it or have access to it.
• If you intend to share the work containing the image
electronically in any form; e.g. online, in Blackboard,
or a personal website, you need to declare this.
• Conference posters, papers, presentations are often
published online, so you must ensure that your
request asks for permission covering sharing in print
and online.

24. What if I can’t get permission?
• Allow enough time as rights owners may not
always reply quickly…or may ignore you
• NO means no,YES means yes and NO REPLY
means NO!
• If you can’t get permission, and you’re not
covered by an exception, find a substitute or
remove it from any versions archived or shared to
avoid infringement.

25. How do I make sure I don’t infringe?
• Be careful…statutory exceptions are legal
defences only and can be challenged.
• You should be able to demonstrate that your use
meets the exception criteria.
• If you answer yes to any of the following, you
probably need permission.
– Does your use damage the interests of the rights
owner?
– Is your use substantial in quality/quantity?

26. USING IMAGES
 How do I credit or cite images?
 How and where can I find cool images to use in my work?
 Where can I find more help?

27. Citing images: why and how
• You need to cite images
– So others can find the
source / owner of the
content for themselves.
– To acknowledge the
creator and/or copyright
owner as required by
copyright law under moral
rights.

28. Crediting and referencing
• Credit images appropriately.
– This might be ‘newspaper style’ with image
captions stating copyright owner and / or creator
for a poster, or as ‘reference list’ by listing your
sources at the end, or in a bibliography.
• Cite according to the conventions of your chosen
referencing style:
Pears, R. Shields, G. (2013) Cite them right: an essential referencing
guide, Palgrave Macmillan, (e-book) contains guidance on how to cite
images according to your chosen referencing style.
Library advice on referencing:
www.brunel.ac.uk/services/library/learning/referencing

29. Internet for image searching
• JISC Digital Media have developed a very useful
tutorial specifically for the Higher Education sector
on finding copyright cleared images for your work
www.vtstutorials.ac.uk/tutorial/imagesearching/

30. Image sources: ClipArt
• Try Microsoft Office ClipArt (From the Insert menu in
Word, PowerPoint, etc.)
• This is licensed to all staff and students under the
University’s educational software licence.
• Office ClipArt can be used online, in publications etc.
under software licence!
• Acknowledgement is not required, but a brief
statement (eg at the end of a presentation) helps
others know where your images are from.

31. Office ClipArt
• Office ClipArt images can be modified under the
educational software licence.
• Search by keyword – you can limit your search to file
types, e.g. to photographs, or illustrations. Use a
common concept or generic term as a keyword, or
be creative…
• You can also search Office.com online to expand the
image selection – they are added to all the time.
Example of health related images found using
OfficeClipArt

32. Office ClipArt
• Modifying images normally requires permission, but
this is covered under the software licence.
• To modify an image easily in Word or PowerPoint:
– After you insert an image double-click it to view the
Adjust menu
– Experiment: options allow you to change colour, blur,
sharpen, add texture, etc.You can also use crop tools to
crop an image to a shape, or cut out bits you don’t need.

33. Other cool image sources
Flickr www.flickr.com/
• You can find lots of useful images here under free-
to-use licences inThe Commons.
• Not all images can be used freely, so you need to
check carefully.You’ll need permission for All rights
reserved; other licences may have conditions.
• See this really useful guide to finding images on
Flickr by Jisc Digital Media:
www.jiscdigitalmedia.ac.uk/guide/finding-images-on-flickr

34. Some more image sources
MorgueFile: www.morguefile.com/
• For more unusual free photographic images which
can be used and shared in presentations, or for
illustration / design purposes.
• This site also contains stock photo images on from
other providers which are not free. Browse or filter
free images using the MorgueFile tab.

35. Even more image sources
Getty Images: http://www.gettyimages.co.uk/
• 35 million images freely available for use on
websites, blog posts and in social media.
• By making them available, Getty hopes to make it
easier for them and their photographers to get
credit for images used online.
• They will also be able to track usage and gain useful
data on where, how and by whom images are used
and shared.

36. Getty Images
• To find images you can embed, search by keyword:
http://www.gettyimages.co.uk/
• When you find an image you like, hover over it to see
whether it is one of the free ones that you can
embed – look for the embed symbol </>.
• Click the symbol to reveal the embed code which
you can then copy and paste into your content.

37. Paid images
• You can also purchase images cheaply from stock
photo providers either as a one-0ff, or through a
subscription.
• Getty Images (not all are free), Fotolia and
iStockPhoto are among some of the most well-
known providers.
• You’ll need to observe any terms and conditions
relating to usage and form of credit.

38. Best practice
• Use copyright cleared image sources
• Cite and reference images!
• Ask yourself whether you can justify your use
under fair dealing or other statutory exceptions if
challenged.
• Be ready to remove any material if you will be
distributing it more widely, replacing with
material you can use as soon as there is a
complaint – even if you feel your use is justified.

40. It can be a minefield!
For help get in touch:
Monique Ritchie
Research Librarian and Copyright Officer
Library, Brunel University
E-mail copyright@brunel.ac.uk
Web www.brunel.ac.uk/library
Copyright www.brunel.ac.uk/services/library/learning/copyright
Twitter @brunelcopyright
Research www.brunel.ac.uk/services/library/research
Twitter @BrunelResComms
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International Licence. To view a copy of this
license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ Except where indicated, all images are obtained from Microsoft Office
ClipArt under the terms of a Microsoft Office educational software licence. 2014 © Brunel University