Sound and video recordings

Sound and video recordings, films and broadcasts are valuable learning resources. The use of them in an educational context is affected by copyright law and in some cases, by the provisions of licences held by the University.

Commercially produced recordings, e.g. videos or DVDs of films, can be shown or played to students for the purposes of instruction. This applies even if the item carries a, “For home use only”, warning or similar.

They may be lent to staff and students.

They may be copied only in the following very limited circumstances.

• By the making of a film or film sound-track in the course of instruction, or of preparation for instruction, in the making of films or film sound-tracks. Note, this copying may only be done by the tutor(s) or the student(s) involved in the course.
• For examination purposes.     

Visit:  Copyright and examinations

Off air recordings may be from:

• broadcasts by members of the Educational Recording Agency (ERA) – this includes BBC Television and radio, ITV, Channel 4, Channel 5 and S4C. ERA does not cover Open University (OU) television programmes.
• Open University (OU) television programmes
• broadcasts not covered by ERA, e.g. cable and satellite, overseas broadcasting organisations.         

Different considerations apply to each of these categories.

The Educational Recording Agency (ERA) licence permits us to record broadcasts by members of ERA and to use these recordings for non-commercial educational purposes.

All recordings must be marked with the date and time of the recording, the programme title, the name of the broadcaster and carry a statement in clear and bold lettering that,

“This recording is to be used only for educational and non-commercial purposes under the terms of the ERA Licence”.

Recordings may be made by Information Services or by academic staff personally either on University premises or at home. They may be held in Faculties or in the University Libraries. They may be played to students, viewed and borrowed by them for educational purposes only.

You can record whole programmes, extracts or parts of programmes, and may make compilations of extracts from different programmes.

The recordings may be made in any medium, e.g. videotape, DVD etc.

You may edit a recorded programme but must not adapt it, e.g. separate the original soundtrack from the picture and add a new commentary.

Credits are part of the programme and should not be edited from recordings. If you are using extracts, you should try to include the credits if possible.

Further copies of recordings may be made provided that they are for educational purposes only and bear the correct label (see above). They may also be copied for examination purposes.

Visit:  Copyright and examinations

You may include extracts or whole programmes from ERA recordings in a VLE or other e-learning environment PROVIDED THAT it is accessible only on University premises. This is still the case even if the VLE is password protected or access is otherwise controlled by an authentication system. The extract or programme will need to carry the correct label (see above). If the e-learning environment is accessible off campus, express written permission would need to be obtained from the rights holder(s) before any recorded material could be included.

Visit: Educational Recording Agency website (external website)

Cable and satellite broadcasts and those transmitted by overseas broadcasting organisations are not covered by the ERA Licence; however, they may be recorded for non-commercial educational purposes by virtue of the Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988 (CDPA).

The Recordings must bear, sufficient acknowledgement”, e.g. the date, time and source of the broadcast.

Recordings may be made by Information Services or by academic staff personally either on University premises or at home. They may be held in Faculties or in the University Libraries.

Recordings must not be made available outside the University premises, nor be included in an e-learning environment without permission from the rights holder(s).

They may only be copied in the following very limited circumstances.

• By the making of a film or film sound-track in the course of instruction, or of preparation for instruction, in the making of films or film sound-tracks. Note, this copying may only be done by the tutor(s) or the student(s) involved in the course.
• For examination purposes.     

Visit:  Copyright and examinations

Cable and satellite broadcasts and those transmitted by overseas broadcasting organisations are not covered by the ERA Licence; however, they may be recorded for non-commercial educational purposes by virtue of the Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988 (CDPA).

The Recordings must bear, sufficient acknowledgement”, e.g. the date, time and source of the broadcast.

Recordings may be made by Information Services or by academic staff personally either on University premises or at home. They may be held in Faculties or in the University Libraries.

Recordings must not be made available outside the University premises, nor be included in an e-learning environment without permission from the rights holder(s).

They may only be copied in the following very limited circumstances.

• By the making of a film or film sound-track in the course of instruction, or of preparation for instruction, in the making of films or film sound-tracks. Note, this copying may only be done by the tutor(s) or the student(s) involved in the course.
• For examination purposes.     

Visit:  Copyright and examinations