1. Can I use the material under a copyright ‘exception’?

Under exceptions to UK copyright law, you are allowed to use an ‘insubstantial’ amount of copyrighted works without obtaining the copyright holder’s permission – for example, for quotation, criticism or review.

‘Insubstantial’ is not defined in copyright law – you must judge whether what you use is reasonable and fair (see notes on Fair Dealing below)

Fair Dealing

‘Fair dealing’ is a legal concept which guides how much of a work you may reproduce for certain specific reasons, under certain circumstances.

Bear in mind that the significance of the extract you use is as important as the quantity you use when considering how much to reproduce.

For example:
If you used one sentence of a 300 page murder mystery – but, the sentence revealed the name of the murderer – it could be argued that this was not fair dealing!

There is no legal definition of fair dealing – it is a matter of fact, degree and impression. However, you should only copy as much as is necessary for a specific purpose and any copying should not adversely affect the market for the original work.

Every case is different, but in general terms, before using material under ‘fair dealing’, the following should be considered:

• How would a fair-minded and honest person deal with the work?
• Would the use of the work affect the sales of the original?
• Is the amount of work to be used reasonable and appropriate?
• What is the significance of the material to be used?

As always, you must fully acknowledge the source of any material you use.

Next: 2. Has the copyright expired?

Image Credits

Forensics technician: CC-BY-SA licence from flickr.com