Most people who study and work in an educational environment will have a notion that ‘copying is wrong’ – but what does it mean when we talk about a copyright?

Copyright is one of a bundle of intellectual property protections which protect outputs of intellectual endeavour that have been fixed in some form. Some examples of what copyright protects are writing and literary works, artworks, photographs, films, TV and radio broadcasts, sheet music, sound recordings, and web content.

The owner of a copyright work (usually the creator) has the exclusive right to copy, translate, sell, broadcast and distribute their work.

There are laws in the UK which protect copyright works – but don’t forget that copyright protection is two-way, meaning that your works are protected as well.

For more information about using the works of others, and protecting your own works, see the following links:

York St John ILS copyright page: www.yorksj.ac.uk/ILS/copyright

UK Intellectual Property Office: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/intellectual-property-office

Copyright User: http://copyrightuser.org/