UK Copyright Literacy

If you're concerned about music copyright - maybe you have to teach students the basics, or perhaps you're keen to keep on the right side of the law with an upcoming recording or performance? - then you might be interested in the UK Copyright Literacy website.  
An RCS research network, Claimed From Stationers' Hall, has just had a guest-blog posted on this site.

Librarian Leading AHRC Research Network

One of our librarians is Principal Investigator for the Claimed From Stationers Hall music research network, which is funded by the AHRC.  It's about Georgian and early Victorian music deposited in libraries around the country under legal deposit legislation. 

If you're interested to see what the research network is doing, here's a link to their blog:-
https://claimedfromstationershall.wordpress.com/ 

Can't I Just Photocopy the Part? Music Copyright Can and Can't Do's in the UK

Copyright guidelines courtesy of CILIP

So you've lost your viola part?  That could be a problem! You cannot just copy another one from the score without the publisher's permission.

Our professional association, IAML (UK and Ireland), has a very helpful web page telling you what is, and is not permissable in the British and Irish world of music copyright.  

Read all the do's and don'ts here:- UK Copyright FAQs, courtesy of IAML (UK and Ireland).

Also, do refer to the general guidelines produced by another professional organisation, CILIP:-

• International Association of Music Libraries, UK and Ireland Branch 
• Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals

UK Copyright - What Can I Copy?

Copyright - Keeping Things Legal

Here at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, we have a CLA (Copyright Licensing Agency) Higher Education Licence.  It allows you certain concessions as a student or staff member in a UK Higher Education establishment.  This document tells you what you're allowed to do:-

CLA Notice for Display

If you've never really thought about copyright before, or if you're from another country, you might find things are different to what you expected, so here's the UKCS (UK Copyright Service) summary of UK Copyright Law, which you might find it helpful:- 

Fact sheet P-01: UK Copyright Law

What Can a Student Legally Copy?

This advice is an extract from the latest Copyright Licensing Agency poster, which summarises exactly what's okay to copy, and what's not:-

This institution holds a licence with The Copyright Licensing Agency Ltd (CLA) that, subject to terms and conditions, permits the copying and re-use of extracts of text and still images from printed books, journals and magazines, and from digital publications including some free-to-view and subscription websites. You can find the full terms and conditions of the Licence at he.cla.co.uk

Read the poster here for the quick summary!

We at the Whittaker Library are keen to help our performing and production artists stay the right side of the law.  We encourage our readers to ask us if they need clarification about what's allowed.  If we don't know, we'll find out for you! 

Claimed from Stationers' Hall - a blogpost for "Echoes from the Vault"

One of our librarians has been doing research into some old music at the University of St Andrews.  Here is a blogpost she has recently written:-

Claimed From Stationers' Hall
Blogpost by Karen E McAulay

• There are a couple of talks coming up - details on the blogpost.

Copyright Advice for Administrators, Academics and Librarians from LSE

We thought we had posted the last word in copyright advice in our recent blogpost, but of course, we're not the only library sharing helpful advice about what's legal and what, frankly, is not.

The London School of Economics recently posted this, which may be a useful addition to your favourites:- Nine things you need to know about copyright: A good practice guide for administrators, librarians and academics.

Want to Know about Music Copyright?

If you're part of the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland staff and student community, the Whittaker Library offers a copyright page on Mahara - you'll need to login to visit this site. 

There's also a great page of FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions) on the IAML(UK and Ireland) website.  (It's the professional association for music libraries, so you can trust the information you find there!)

What categories of work are protected by copyright?  Visit the FAQs!
What is the public domain?  We have the answer to that, too!

And where do you go for the answers to all your questions?  

• Useful Copyright Resources 
• Copyright FAQs for the UK 

IAML (UK and Ireland) homepage: http://uk-irl.iaml.info/index.html

You mean I CAN copy it? (Understanding Music Copyright)

To be honest, copyright legislation is a rather negative topic! If something's 'in copyright', you can't copy it.  However, if something is very old, or if you have the right permissions, or if you're copying a tiny extract for study purposes, then you may be able to copy it, guilt-free.  

So, how do you find out what's allowed?

1. The IAML(UK and Ireland) website has a full page devoted to copyright, with lots of useful links, particularly relating to music.  (The International Association of Music Libraries is our professional association; a working group is currently drawing up a new helpful advice document, but you can certainly trust the links that are already on this website.)
2. Another UK library organisation, CILIP (Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals) has its own page about copyright in general.
3. Try the UK Copyright Service website.
4. Conservatoires and Universities often have their own web-pages on copyright legislation, sometimes on a Virtual Learning Network that only their own staff and students can access.  (We have such a page on the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland's VLN.)  We also have someone on the staff with particular responsibilities for providing copyright advice. This is quite common.
5. The British Academy for the Human and Social Sciences has a very extensive copyright advice page, though you might be put off by its length!  

The bottom line is - if in doubt, ask! Whether you ask your library staff or one of the agencies on the IAML list, someone will be happy to help you work out where you stand.

So Copyright Doesn't Affect You? Even BBC gets in Trouble

Spotted in the Daily Mail, this surprising story ....

"Bake Off's Sound of Music advert is axed after BBC is accused of breaching copyright"

Read more here.

(Daily Mail Social Media links @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook")

Can I Download Illegal Music? The UK Law on Piracy

Sunday Times Cover story: How Piracy is Killing Creativity, by Jonathan Dean 

We spotted an interesting cover story in the Sunday Times magazine recently.  The author, Jonathan Dean, argues that piracy is killing creativity, but that the younger generation maybe doesn't recognize the problem.

You can read the article online here.

• http://www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto/culture/music/article1547025.ece

Is My Copying Legal?

CILIP, the UK librarians' professional organisation, has plenty of helpful info about copyright to help you keep things legal.  Visit their copyright pages HERE: Copying Guidance January 2015.

Who has the Copyright When You Don't Know Who Wrote It?

There's new UK copyright legislation that takes care of 'orphan works' - publications where you don't know the author or composer.

IAML (UK and Ireland)* has posted useful information on their website about this.  Read it HERE.

'29 October 2014 saw the implementation of legislation to facilitate the use of orphan works in the UK. An orphan work is defined as a copyright work or performance for which one or more of the rights holders either cannot be identified or cannot be located, thus making it impossible to seek permission for use of the work.
Use of orphan works is now permitted under two different routes: the implementation of the EU Directive 2012/28/EU, or under the UK Licensing Scheme.' Read more HERE.

*IAML is the International Association of Music Libraries.  We're in the UK and Ireland branch.

Were You Asking About Music Copyright?

Copyright Issues for Musicians

The UK and Ireland Branch of our professional association, the International Association of Music Libraries (IAML) has put together this useful collection of copyright resources for musicians:-

http://www.iaml.info/iaml-uk-irl/resources/copyright.html

Can I Make Arrangements of Original Music without Breaking Copyright?

 It's so tempting, isn't it?  You find a great piece of music and want to arrange it for your instrument or ensemble. But can you do it legally?  It depends ...

The Music Publishers Association Code of Fair Practice, agreed between composers, publishers and users of printed music, is the place to check for questions like this.

These are two links you should save:-

• MPA Online Code of Fair Practice
• MPA FAQs

What should I do if I believe that someone may be infringing copyright?

The Music Publishers Association Code of Fair Practice, agreed between composers, publishers and users of printed music, gives you loads of information about what you can and can't do.


Knowledge is half the battle, so why not bookmark these links for future reference?

• MPA Online Code of Fair Practice
• MPA FAQs

How can I find the copyright owner for permission to use a piece of music?

Again, the answer can be found in the Music Publishers Association Code of Fair Practice.  A revised edition was published in 2012 and you can read it HERE.

• Music Publishers Association homepage - MPA Online
• FAQ pages

Can I Photocopy Printed Music?

The answer can be found in the Music Publishers Association Code of Fair Practice.  A revised edition was published in 2012 and you can read it HERE.

Other useful links:-

• Music Publishers Association homepage - MPA Online
• FAQ pages

Copyright - what you can (and can't) do after 1 June 2014

There are changes to UK Copyright law which come into effect on 1 June 2014.  Here in the Whittaker Library, we are carefully reading up the details.  Impacting on several important aspects of performances, including research, education, disability, and libraries, you can understand our need to get a grasp of these changes!  Here is the introduction on the Intellectual Property Office website:-

Changes to copyright law and guidance

Changes to copyright law

"The government is making a series of small but important changes to copyright law to make it better suited for the digital age. These changes will affect how you can use content like books, music, films and photographs. They will also introduce greater freedoms in copyright law to allow third parties to use copyright works for a variety of economically and/or socially valuable purposes without the need to seek permission from copyright owners. Protections for the interests of copyright owners and creators are built in to the proposed changes.
"The government is committed to achieving strong, sustainable and balanced growth that is shared across the country and between industries. These changes are the result of extensive consultation with all interested parties. They will come into force on 1 June 2014."

(Intellectual Property Office ... Changes to copyright law and guidance - http://www.ipo.gov.uk/types/hargreaves/hargreaves-copyright/hargreaves-copyright-techreview.htm accessed 18.04.2014)

In the UK, copyright law is changed by "Statutory Instruments". The forthcoming changes are made in five such statutory instruments. They affect performances in the following areas:- 

• Personal copies for private use
• Quotation and parody
• Disability
• Research, education, libraries and archives
• Administration

There are three IPO (Intellectual Property Office) online leaflets about educational, library and disability-related exceptions to the copyright legislation, which are very useful for us to know.  They're available in .pdf format:-

• Exceptions to copyright - Education and teaching 
• Exceptions to copyright - Libraries, archives and museums
• Exceptions to copyright - Accessible formats for disabled people
• NB - Accessible format copies can be made where no accessible format copy is 'commercially available on reasonable terms'.  

For a summary of all the changes, general readers are directed to this explanatory document.  In legal-speak, it's called an 'Explanatory Memorandum', so if anyone asks you where you read about this, then you would cite this:-

EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM TO THE COPYRIGHT AND RIGHTS IN PERFORMANCES ... AND ADMINISTRATION REGULATIONS 2014

Photocopying - What can I legally Copy?

Start by reading this blogpost from the Jerwood Library of the Performing Arts!

Here's how it begins:-

 

The whole post is here:

http://jerwoodlibrary.wordpress.com/2013/07/18/exciting-times-in-the-world-of-copyright/