BLE Detailed Copyright Guide: Putting Material on the BLE: You or SOAS Owns the Copyright
If you and/or SOAS solely owns the copyright in a work, you can place a copy of it on the BLE without infringing any third party's copyright. This could apply to:
- Academic research solely authored by you while working for SOAS.
- Teaching and course materials produced by you while working for SOAS.
- Other material produced by you in the normal course of your employment.
When deciding whether you can put an item on the BLE because you or SOAS owns the copyright, you should bear the following points in mind:
(1) Don't assume that you own the copyright in a published book or article just because it was written by you. Whether you own the copyright will depend on the agreement between you and the publisher, or the terms on which journal accepts articles. You may have assigned copyright in the published version to the publisher, which will restrict what you can do with the work. The publication agreement may also limit what you can do with the "pre-print" version of the book or article.
Many publishers allow authors to reproduce material for their own research and teaching, and to add it to publicly accessible eprints archives (such as SOAS Research Online), even if the publisher owns the copyright. The SHERPA project has produced RoMEO, a summary of publishers' policies towards the archiving of pre-prints and post-prints of journal articles (it does not cover book chapters). If in doubt, consult your publisher before putting a copy of your work on the BLE. Alternatively, if the copying would be permitted under our CLA licence, you can proceed as for other CLA-licenced works (see Scanning under the CLA licence).
(2) If research was externally commissioned or funded, the contract with the funder may limit what you can do with the outputs of the research: e.g. it may assign copyright to the funder, or impose restrictions on how the research can be used. Similarly, the ownership of copyright in works which you may have produced as a consultant will depend on the contract between you and your client. Unless the contract assigns copyright to the client, it is likely that you will own the copyright in what was produced by the consultancy, and can put the material on the BLE. However, it would be advisable not to use the material in any way which could harm the client's interests.
(3) Don't assume that you can automatically re-use material produced by you in a previous employment. Whether you can do so will depend on your previous contract of service and the policies of your former employer. E.g. some HEIs claim ownership of all staff outputs, including academic research.
(4) You should not reproduce works (particularly research) produced by other SOAS staff members without their permission, as they may own the copyright as individuals - and it is common courtesy to ask permission before using others' material. Students normally own the copyright in their coursework, theses, dissertations and exam answers, so the student's permission should always be obtained before reproducing material on the BLE or elsewhere. Failure to do so, in the case of student material, could also contravene the Data Protection Act.
(5) If you are not the sole owner of copyright in a work, you should not put it on the BLE without the permission of all the other rights owners - unless the copying would be permitted anyway (e.g. because it is covered by our CLA licence). Co-authors of books and articles which you have written will usually be joint owners of the copyright, unless copyright has been assigned to the publisher (see above). You are unlikely to be the only owner of copyright in a film or sound recording, even if you are the person who made it or are the person being filmed/recorded. For example, an amateur film of someone performing a piece of music produced on or after 1 July 1994 is likely to have at least three rights owners:
- The "producer" - the person or organisation who made the arrangements necessary for making the film, such as providing the finance.
- The "principal director" (likely to be the person controlling the camera), who will jointly own copyright in the film with the producer, and may be the same person.
- The musician will have "performance rights" in their performance, which are a form of copyright.
- There may also be an underlying copyright in the work of music being performed.
Similarly, a sound recording of an oral history interview produced on or after 1 July 1994 will have at least the following rights owners:
- The "producer" - the person or organisation (possibly the interviewer) who made the arrangements necessary for making the recording, such as providing the finance.
- The interviewer and the interviewee(s) will own copyright in their parts of the interview, unless they have waived or assigned copyright (e.g. by signing a form).
Last updated September 2008
