Third Party Copyright

1.  Introduction

Third party copyright was recently raised as an issue by several people representing institutions that are in the process of implementing repositories who attended the OARiNZ Final Event seminar held in June 2007. Published research and theses often refer to images, substantial quotes, or models that have copyright restrictions placed upon them by the original authors. Publishers are quick to ensure that premission is gained from the original author, but does the same apply to institutions making unpublished theses publicly available through an institutional repository?

Third party copyright was seen as an issue that required more focus hence the creation of this section. At present, third party copyright has only been discussed very briefly in the literature.

2.  Library and Information Management Literature

Searching for literature on third party copyright issues returned only a half dozen results with some authors only mentioning the need to be aware of this issue in passing.

Jones and Andrew (2005) discussed the development of the Edinburgh Research Archive and commented that intellectual copyright issues have proven to be very challenging. Jones and Andrew (2005, p200) refer to British legislation, the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act (CDPA) 1988, which states that a thesis is an unpublished work and is protected as such. Jones and Andrew (2005, p200) also state that British legislation prevents re-publication, or issuing to the public, of any significant part of a thesis by a third party without the copyright owner’s consent.

Importantly, Jones and Andrew (2005, p200) also mention embedded material, such as text or images within a thesis created by a third party who holds copyright. They state that the ‘fair use’ defence, which allows people to copy fairly without threatening the copyright holder’s commercial interests, extends only to examination and research and that publishing the thesis will breach copyright.

Gadd, Oppenheim, and Probets (2003, p259) addressed third party copyright in their study regarding the impact of copyright ownership on academic author self-archiving. After conducting a survey of 542 academic authors it was revealed that only 25% of authors self-archiving material sought clearance from the original copyright holder. Gadd, Oppenheim, and Probets (2003) also noted that copyright holders may be happier with the thesis or article refering to their work being published rather than made available for free on the internet. Gadd, Oppenheim, and Probets (2003, p259) state that authors wishing to self-archive previously published research must notify and get permission from the third parties cited in that research paper.

3.  E-Learning Material

Those institutions wishing to deposit e-learning materials in their repository face similar issues. The JISC Legal Information Service has made available useful information regarding copyright licensing for e-learning authors.

Gaining permission to use third party content in an online learning environment is again necessary and often e-learning material must be licensed. It must be stressed that “understanding the basis on which these licenses grant rights to use the materials is essential to understanding what can ultimately be done within the online learning environemnt” JISCLegal (2007).

4.  New Zealand Law

The above resources provide useful information regarding third party copyright issues, but it is important to refer to New Zealand legislation and in particular the Copyright Act 1994. Relevant sections include Part 3: Acts Permitted in Relation to Copyright Works.

Millet (2007), published by LIANZA produced a document entitled The Copyright Act 1994: Guidelines for Librarians. This document contains useful sections on copying for educational purposes and copyright and the internet.