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University of Groningen Library
University of Groningen Library Publish Copyright Information Point Dealing with copyright in education Sources

Books

Infographic guidelines reuse material: Infographic vuistregels hergebruik: 1. Source reference (Always cite the source: - Author - Title - Publisher - Year of publication) 2. Direct linking (Always use direct links, unless there is no other option) 3. Open Access (Use Open Access content whenever possible) 4. Permission (Do you have (written) consent from the copyright holder (usually the publisher?)

More information on reuse copyrighted material in your courses:

E-learning (Brightspace)
Free - What is always permitted?

There are many ways to include text from books in Brightspace without infringing copyright or incurring additional costs.

  • Link to the source : Linking to and e-book (for which the UB own a license) is always permitted, find out more on creating links in Brightspace. Some publishers make (parts of) their books available online so that everyone can read them. Sometimes, parts of a book are also available to preview on Google Books. Since you are not republishing but only referring to (parts of) a book, there are no costs involved.
  • Open Textbooks: More and more open textbooks are becoming available online. These textbooks can be downloaded free of charge and you can reuse the material contained therein without any problems, provided you adhere to the specific license. If the book is available online a link is preferred.

    Good sources for open textbooks are Openstax, Milne Open Textbooks, MERLOT and Cool4ed .
  • Quotations: You may always quote a short passage, as long as it is not longer than necessary. Remember to include a proper reference.

    See for more information on this subject: Open Education .

Paid extracts

Each year, the UG/UMCG pays an advance amount for materials used and for which no prior permission had to be requested. This amount is based on the size and number of extracts used in the previous year.

The Dutch universities aim to minimize the number of paid extracts in order to decrease the advance payment for the coming years.

For this reason, you should, as far as possible, use the free options described above or, failing that, to include the chapter in a (printed reader). Uploading the pdf to Brightspace is not allowed.

The only exception is when you personally acquired permission from the rights holder to upload the pdf to Brightspace. If this is the case, please contact copyright rug.nl. UMCG staff may contact auteursrecht umcg.nl.

Read more about the UG/UMCG policy on the reuse of copyrighted materials in education.

Reader

Free - What is always permitted?

There are a number of ways to include texts from books in a reader without infringing copyright or incurring additional costs.

  • Open Textbooks: More and more open textbooks are becoming available online. These textbooks can be downloaded free of charge and you can also reuse the material contained therein free of charge, provided you adhere to the specific Creative Commons licence. Good sources for open textbooks are Openstax, Milne Open Textbooks, MERLOT and Cool4ed . If the article is available online please use a link.
  • Quotations: You may always quote a short passage, as long as it is not longer than necessary.

    See for more information on this subject: Open Education .

Paid extracts
Easy access

Each year, the UG/UMCG pays an advance amount for materials used and for which no prior permission had to be requested. This amount is based on the size and number of extracts used in the previous year.

Easy Access: what is permitted?

You can use no more than 40 pages from a publication, provided this does not exceed 20% of this publication.

Please note : The number of words used for the entire course are added together. For example, if you use 26 pages from the same publication twice within the same course, this no longer counts as Easy Access.

Longer extracts?

For extracts longer than 40 pages or 20%, you must obtain the explicit prior permission of the copyright holder, for which a fee is often charged.

If you want to use a long extract from a source, the University Library can also find out whether the source is available to purchase (digitally), so that students can have access to it. Please do not hesitate to get in touch with us if you need advice or support regarding long extracts: copyright rug.nl. UMCG staff may contact auteursrecht umcg.nl.

Be critical of extracts: retain more resources for other educational matters

Wherever possible, use the free options described above. If this does not work, keep the extract as short as possible (within Easy Access, a short extract costs less than a medium extract). In this way, the RUG/UMCG retains more money for other educational matters. Read more about the RUG/UMCG's policy on the reuse of copyrighted works in education.

Contact

For more information on the process of making a reader, please contact the reader administration of your faculty.

Lectures
Using books in lectures

For lectures, you have a lot of freedom when it comes to reusing materials. You can show full texts of books in your presentations, as well as play visual and audio material, provided that it meets the following conditions:

  • It is used for educational purposes and forms part of the curriculum.
  • It is used for non-profit-making educational purposes (this is the case for education and teaching provided for UG/UMCG students).
  • The material is used within the walls of the UG/UMCG or during a live online lecture within the secured electronic learning environment.
  • You may not download and play materials such as videos, but you may stream them (e.g. on YouTube).

PLEASE NOTE: These rules only apply to the use of materials for educational purposes. If you then upload your presentation to Brightspace , the rules for using books on Brightspace apply (see above, under the heading 'E-learning (Brightspace)').

Please also note: If you record your lectures and then disseminate those recordings at a later date, additional rules also apply.

Perusall/FeedbackFruits (FBF)

Perusall and FeedbackFruits (FBF) are social annotation tools. These are online platforms that offer groups of students the opportunity to discuss academic texts or educational videos. Students complete assignments by writing annotations to a selected text or video.

Free - What is always permitted?

For including book texts in tools like Perusall/FBF, there are a number of options to avoid infringing copyright or incurring additional costs.

Paid extracts
Easy Access

Each year, the UG/UMCG pays an advance amount for materials used and for which no prior permission had to be requested. This amount is based on the size and number of extracts used in the previous year.

Easy Access: what is permitted?

You can use no more than 40 pages from a publication, provided this does not exceed 20% of this publication.

Please note:   The number of words used for the entire course are added together. For example, if you use 26 pages from the same publication twice within the same course, this no longer counts as Easy Access.

Because of the fact that Perusall and FeedbackFruits are social annotation tools, uploading PDFs is permitted here under certain conditions.

Longer extracts?

You can only use more than 40 pages from a publication or over 20% of the publication provided that:

  • The material is published in Open Access, preferably with a CC licence that explicitly permits reuse
  • It is your own work, for which you are the copyright holder

  • Explicit permission for use has been obtained from the copyright holder

  • The publisher's licence allows the article to be used in Perusall/FBF. If the licence allows the use, it takes precedence over the restrictions of the Easy Access regulation.

If you want to use a long extract from a source, the University Library can also find out  whether the publisher's licence allows the use in Perusall/FBF.

If the UG does not have an e-book in its possession, the UB may look into purchasing a suitable version of the ebook.

Be critical of extracts: retain more resources for other educational matters

Wherever possible, use the free options described above. If this does not work, keep the extract as short as possible (within Easy Access, a short extract costs less than a medium extract). In this way, the RUG/UMCG retains more money for other educational matters. Read more about the  RUG/UMCG's policy on the reuse of copyrighted works in education.
Please note: the copyright check must be performed every year (copyright check procedure), for both short and long acquisitions.

Contact

Educational Innovation & Evaluation offers more information on the use of tools like Perusall and FBF. Here you will also find information on the copyright check procedure. Or contact Educational Innovation & Evaluation via edusupport rug.nl.

For questions on extracts and copyright, please contact copyright rug.nl. UMCG staff may contact auteursrecht umcg.nl.

Last modified:20 February 2024 09.33 a.m.
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