Copyright

Copyright is the ownership of a piece of work: it literally refers to the right to copy something. It is very important - in terms of both legality and morality - to make sure that if you use someone else's work that you:

1. Have the right to do so
2. Reference their work in an appropriate manner

This applies to digital as much as it does to physical work, and in today's digital age, museum educators must navigate the complex landscape of copyright licensing to ensure they adhere to legal and ethical standards while incorporating digital resources into their educational materials.

The Copyright symbol

With regards to referencing work in an "appropriate" manner, what that means will depend on the particular licence applied to a given piece of work. In some cases it is necessary to pay for the right to use a piece of work, and this is entirely up to the copyright owner.

Copyright licensing refers to the legal framework that governs the rights and permissions granted to creators and owners of original works, protecting their intellectual property from unauthorised use. It establishes the guidelines for how copyrighted materials, such as images, text, audio, and video, can be legally used, reproduced, distributed, and modified. Copyright licensing aims to balance the rights of creators with the needs of users, fostering creativity while safeguarding intellectual property rights.

Copyright is automatically applied to any piece of original work that fits certain criteria (see "How copyright protects your work" (Gov.uk): if you want to copyright a piece of work that you have created you do not have to apply, pay a fee, or register it anywhere, but in the case of a claim you may need to be able to prove that the work originated with you. You are entitled to use the copyright symbol (©) along with your name and the year in which you created the work.

Museum educators, in their digital endeavours, must be well-versed in copyright licensing and how it applies to them and the resources they wish to make use of in order to responsibly incorporate them into their teaching materials. There are some specific situations in which an educator may make use of copyright-protected works without seeking permission from the owner but it is important to note that these are usually restricted to non-commercial purposes which muddies the waters for educators who wish to use them for purposes which may be seen to benefit the organisation that they work for, such as using photographs in learning activities which schools pay to take part in.

Infringing copyright can result in legal action being taken against a person or organisation by the copyright owner, which may result in the owner being awarded damages. It is the user's responsibility to ensure that they do not infringe copyright when using any material created by another individual or organisation. In the digital domain it is important to be aware of Digital Rights Management (DRM) systems which govern access to copyrighted materials such as e-books, online work and media files such as images and videos. These systems may work to restrict access to these materials, to aid the discovery of copyright infringements, or both.

Increasingly, people who wish to offer their own copyrighted work to others to use may apply a licence so that others can easily find out what they are and are not allowed to do with the work, and what sort of acknowledgement is required. It is advisable to do this with any original materials that you create and distribute. One common system for achieving this (especially with digital materials available online) is Creative Commons licencing: you can see the Creative Commons notice for the Digital Skills Glossary under the Attribution heading at the bottom of the sidebar on the left-hand side of the page (you may have to click the " ≡ " symbol to the top left of this page to open the sidebar if you are using a small screen).

Next Steps:

1. Read the Glossary entry on Creative Commons licencing. Could you apply any of the licences to any of your own work?
2. Search for some images or other media online and see if you can find out what usage rights are applied to them.
3. Look through any resources or activities that you have created and make a note of any images or other media that you have used that originated from somewhere else. Can you identify where they came from and who created them in the first place? Would this be obvious to somebody else looking at your resource? Does your usage of the media (including any attribution) meet the requirements of any attached licences?
4. If you have created any original material think about the circumstances in which you'd be happy or unhappy for someone else to use it. Would it be easy for someone else to find this out?

Further Reading:

• From the Glossary: Creative Commons | Open Source |
• Elsewhere online: Alison (free online courses on a variety of topics) | Online Self Assessment Tool |