I have provided the following information in good faith and I hope that it remains posted. It provides directions and designations that will be of use in uncovering the exact nature of the law and also information based on opinion developed through several years study of the manner in which English law is formed. It does not represent professional legal advice. Wherever possible the law should be followed and common sense should be utilised at all times to give full consideration to the rights of copyright holders. Always approach the reproduction of any works in an ethical manner so as not to discourage future creation of works by those who need to be supported by observation of their licensing terms.

I think the best links to look at are those supplied at the Intellectual Property Office which can be found on this page: http://www.ipo.gov.uk/types/copy/c-other/c-exception/c-exception-teaching.htm

They will give you a link to the relevant 1988 Copyright Act. It is a little confusing though as at one point it says that no reprographic techniques may be used on any copyrighted materials, whereas in a later section it permits up to 1% of a work to be reproduced reprographically in any one quarter. If this is done then it must be for non commercial purposes, which seems somewhat at odds with the fact that most educational establishments take payment from students who are commencing courses. This suggests that any case will be judged according to its own merits, as one would often expect with English law.

In addition to the non commercial nature of the use there is also a requirement for acknowledgement of the copyright holder though the Act does recognise that this may not be practicable so does allow some leeway on this point in order that you do not mar your presentation with lots of acknowledgements.

As my understanding of the law goes any educational dispensation under the Act is not relevant where permissions may be obtained, in such a case permissions should according to the IPO be obtained from:

The Educational Recording Agency or,
The Copyright Licensing Agency.


Of course it must be remembered that the Act itself was written in 1988 and pre-dates most of the modern uses that information would be put to on the internet so for a full explanation of what is possible it would be necessary to consider any case law that has arisen during the last 24 years. Unfortunately this will most likely not give a very full picture as copyright holders are unlikely to have brought many cases against educators due to the nature of their work and the bad publicity that may arise. The law in this area is therefore probably far less mature than necessary to give a definitive answer.

One point to remember is that according to the strict wording of the Act it may even be an offence to allow a web browser to show you a page of copyrighted material. As this is an adsurdity it is a perfect illustration of the kind of flexibility that a common law system has when it comes to the development of new law. My advice would be to copy as little as possible and give full acknowledgement wherever you can, perhaps in small print at the end of any presentation or perhaps in a frame that can be accessed but is not necessarily part of the linear presentation.


If you attempt to follow the letter of the law you will be called upon to do the impossible because English law is not created in such a way that it must simply be obeyed, the process of development of the law does not end in Parliament but is followed through by the contributions of the courts in setting precedent. If you use common sense then it is probable that if any case were brought you would find that the future direction that case law would take in moulding the way the law is interpreted would be sympathetic to your case and would help better define it for future educators who wish to do what they can to avoid transgressing what is permitted.