Copyright Law - FAQ

The copyright law permits to you to make a copy or a digital reproduction for private, non-commercial usage. The reproduction of the following is permitted:

• Up to 15% of a work published (e.g. from a monograph or a public journal)
• Illustrations
• One article from an academic journal issue (not from a newspaper or magazine!)
• Works out of stock
• Other works of minor scope (minor scope means up to 25 pages for printed works, 6 pages from a music book and 5 minutes for films and music)

The following is permitted to lecturers and participants of a course, to examiners as well as to third-parties insofar this serves at the implementation of the lessons or the presentation of lesson and teaching results at the educational institution:

• Access and download of a copy
• Printing of a copy

According to German copyright law, the continued reproduction, storage and dissemination (including via email) without consent of the copyright holder is not permitted..

HINT: Please find here a facing sheet regarding copyright notes - in German only (PDF) for digital reproductions which you provide to your students via OPAL.

HINT: Link from your OPAL-course directly to the catalog of the University Library. From here, the students have got access to the e-books and e-journals provided by the Library.

As long as you indicate the sources properly, you are entitled to include material protected by copyright law in your teaching material within a minor scope.

HINT: Make preferably use of materials released with a license allowing clearly the reuse (e.g. CC-license). OER-materials are very recommendable. In case you would like to include online-materials, you should better refer on the contents by indicating a link than copy those materials.

You are entitled to show image material of other authors by citing it. Please check carefully in each case whether you comply with the requirements of a citation (e.g. publication, purpose of citation (crucial to your argument?), scope)! Never forget to indicate the source. Please observe also the rights of persons depicted, if applicable.

HINT: If you would like to include photos or images for illustration of your presentation sheets, it is recommendable to make use of own photos/ images or to rely on open contents, such as materials released with a CC-license.

Within a minor scope (up to 15%) and exclusively for description and reference of the contents taught, you are entitled to playback audio and video material protected by copyright law within the closed circle of participants of your course and to provide it on OPAL. However, for this reason it is recommendable to include only links to the audio and video materials (leading to e.g. publicly accessible platforms like YouTube) in your teaching materials. As long as the audio files, videos and films originate from a legal source and were uploaded on the platform with consent of the author, you are entitled to show them completely by using the links.

HINT: In case your lecture is recorded, you have to stop the recording during the playback of the audio and video material.

Insofar you are indicating the sources properly, you may include material protected by copyright law in your examination materials within a minor scope (up to 15%). In case that you would like to release the examination materials subsequently or forward it to other students, you would have to delete the cited material protected by copyright law or to ask the authors for their consent to the usage.

In general, brands and logos may be used for supplementary illustration of teaching materials. Please avoid the impression that the brands or logo owners are the editors or initiators of the material.

For your OWN academic research, which means for your exclusive individual usage, you are entitled to copy or to make a reproduction of up to 75% of a work (for example from a printed or online accessible monograph). The copy must not be forwarded. The copying or digitalization of a complete work for storage is not permitted.

In case you would like to include photos or images for illustration of your doctoral thesis or other publications, it is recommendable to use own photos/ images or open contents such as materials released by a CC-license. For each work you would like to publish (doctoral and postdoctoral theses included), you have to ask for the consent of the author to the usage of the images (photos, diagrams, maps etc.) and videos.

A particular case are images already published by the author which are shown in order to reflect on them. In this case the so-called citation right applies. Then, image material may be shown to the public without restrictions insofar this happens within and appropriate and responsible scope.

Maps released by publishers, authorities or other institutions on their own behalf and more than seventy years ago, you may use without restrictions. Please be careful with using online cartographical material and check in each case the usage conditions (“Terms of Use”).

HINT: It is recommendable to use OpenStreetMap (for more information access irights.info). In case of usage of data of OpenStreetMap, you have to indicate the source and you are obliged for disclosure under the same conditions. (For more information on maps and copyright law, please have a look at Deutsche Gesellschaft für Kartographie - Urheberrecht (PDF)– in German only.)

Technical drawings (e.g. construction drawings, medical and natural-scientific illustrations) are frequently protected by copyright law. In case you are intending a publication, you should abstain from including drawings protected by copyright law.

Quantitative data may solely be protected as database work (§4 German Copyright Law) based on their particular compilation. This applies exclusively to the structure, not to the contents themselves. Quantitative data frequently do not attain the threshold of originality required by copyright law. In contrast, qualitative data may be protected by copyright law. In the case that the required threshold of originality is attained and no contractual privacy agreements apply, the decision on the release and reuse belongs to the author of the data. Please observe patent law and service contract law as well. For more information regarding rights and obligation within the handling of research data, please access Forschungsdaten.info - rights and obligations (in German only).

For more information regarding Text and Data Mining, please access Search & Find | Text and Data Mining

For more legal information regarding the elaboration of OER, please access irights.info - Practice-oriented guideline concerning legal aspects of E-learning, OER and Open Content (PDF) (in German).

For more information regarding the publication of your elaboration for qualification, please access Publishing | Theses Department.

In case you would like to release your research results Open Access, please access Publishing | Open Access - Copyright law for further information.