Home» Services» Library» Students» Copyright» Fair dealing

Fair dealing

What is fair dealing?

Fair dealing is a statutory exception in the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 (s.29), which is a defence for individuals who copy unsubstantial amounts of copyright material for non-commercial private study or research purposes without seeking permission from the copyright owner.

It is advisable for anyone wishing to copy under fair dealing to apply the following three step test prior to doing so:

Is the copying substantial (as a rule, more than 5 -10% of the work)?
Will the copyright owner's economic interests be damaged?
Is the copy for commercial purposes or for group study or research?

If the answer is yes to any of these questions, fair dealing is unlikely to apply to the intended copying.

What copying is allowed under fair dealing?

Copying for non-commercial private study or research
Copying for the purpose of criticism and review

Copying for non-commercial private study or research

Fair dealing covers the making of single copies from print or electronic works for non-commercial personal use. An instance of copying for private study or research purposes could be arguably copying for a thesis, which is an original and unique piece of work.

However, if the study or research is commercial in any way, fair dealing will not apply and clearance will be required.

Copying for the purpose of criticism and review

Short extracts defined as extracts of 400 words or less, may also be copied under fair dealing for the purposes of criticism and review. For longer extracts, permission should be obtained from the copyright owner.

What copying is not allowed under fair dealing?

The following types of copying are not covered under the fair dealing exception.

Copying for an direct or indirect commercial purpose

This includes copying for contract research, consultancy-based research, collaborative research, sponsored research or private study with a direct or indirect commercial benefit.

Such copying is never fair dealing, although some copying may be covered under any copyright licensing agreements held by the organisation where relevant. If no relevant licence is held, copyright clearance must be obtained for all commercial copying, and may incur fees. You should seek further advice from the Copyright and Digital Resources Officer.

Copying for educational purposes (group study)

Much of the copying carried out for educational purposes cannot be considered to be fair dealing, where the same material is being copied by substantially the same group of users.

An instance where fair dealing could not be applied is where a number of students taking the same module, copy, or are likely to copy, a book chapter listed as core reading on a module reading list. However, copying for a thesis, dissertation or final year project may count as fair dealing, where the work is unique to the individual. The University holds licences which permit some multiple copying for educational purposes.

Visit useful links on copyright in teaching and learning below for further information.

Making multiple copies from printed works

The making of multiple copies printed or electronic works is not permitted under fair dealing. Making more than a single copy for one or more individuals is also not fair dealing.

This type of copying is called multiple or systematic copying, and is only legal where permission or a licence has been obtained.

The University holds various licences covering multiple copying for educational purposes, including one from the Copyright Licensing Agency covering multiple copying from printed books, journals and magazines. Visit useful links on copyright in teaching and learning below for further information.

Making multiple copies from electronic works

Making multiple copies from such as websites or e-journals must be explicitly permitted under a contractual licence agreement, web copyright notice or other statement of permission.

You should check websites thoroughly for a copyright notice or usage terms. These are usually found on through links on a site's home page. For more information see the web page on Copying from e-resources.

Copying a commercial film, or copying images or sound recordings

Copyright clearance for the intended use of the material must be obtained from the copyright owner, or must be specifically covered by a licence agreement, e.g. subscription database. See the web pages on Copying still images and Copying moving images for more information.

How much can be copied under fair dealing?

There is no safe amount of a published work which may be safely photocopied under fair dealing as there is no clearly defined limit in the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, which states that the copying should be insubstantial. Copyright owners have the right to challenge the fairness of the copying.

Substantiality may be defined in qualitative as well as quantitative terms, however the recommended guidelines for fair dealing copying is generally interpreted as:

no more than 1 chapter from a book or no more than 5% of a given work, whichever is the greater
no more than 1 article from a single issue of a journal
no more than 1 paper or 5% of extracts from a set of conference proceedings
no more than 1 poem or a short story of no more than 10 pages from an anthology
no more than 1 case or no more than 5% of extracts from a law report

Guidelines on best practice when copying under fair dealing

Copies made under fair dealing must be for personal use by the person making the copies and may not be passed on to other users.
Copies may be stored electronically, e.g. on a computer hard disc or removable media, but may not be placed on a network, such as an intranet or virtual learning environment.
It is good practice to always acknowledge the author, title and publisher details on all copies unless this is impracticable.
Any copyright statement or rights management information attached to the work should be copied along with the material. Where rights information is attached or copy protection is in place, it is a criminal offence to delete, tamper with or amend it.

Useful links on copyright in teaching and learning

For further advice, please e-mail copyright@brunel.ac.uk

Please contact

Monique Ritchie
Copyright and Digital Resources Officer
Telephone 01895 266169
E-mail copyright@brunel.ac.uk