Statement
About this guideline
The use of intellectual property protected by copyright is often required in digital learning resources. This includes images, illustrations, text, digital code, designs and other work produced by external organisations. We must ensure we have the right to use these materials in line with relevant legislation, policies and agreements. Similarly, NES and other health and social care organisations in Scotland produce a significant amount of intellectual property that is used in digital learning resources. While it is often appropriate to share this taxpayer funded material under specified conditions, proportionate measures must be taken to ensure any copyright materials are not misused.
Who is this guideline for?
What types of resources does this guideline apply to?
Further enquiries and useful information
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Contact the e-Learning team and the Learn Content team through the Digital Learning Help desk
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Turas style guide version 2 (note this is currently in development)
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Copyright User website UK Copyright Law - CopyrightUser.org
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Turas Learn Copyright site - Information, learning about copyright, templates and other resources
Sources of help and information for NES staff
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Digital Learning Help service desk - NES staff can contact the TEL team, e-Learning team, Learn Content team, Design team, and video help via this helpdesk
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The NES Design team
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Sourcing images and other media: A quick reference guide
Revised NES Intellectual Property Policy
NES Intellectual Property Policy 4 Aug 2015 (note this currently is under review)
- Revised NES Intellectual Property Policy ( Download, 138 KB)
Checklists
Using others’ intellectual property
Intellectual property produced by external organisations or individuals may only be used under one or more of the following conditions:
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It is permitted under ‘fair dealing’ conditions (using only the minimum amount of the intellectual property necessary and causing the rights holder no material loss or other harm)
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Use is within the terms of a Creative Commons or other public licence
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A licence to use the intellectual property has been purchased or otherwise obtained
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Written permission to use the intellectual property has been obtained from the rights holder (rights clearance)
Images obtained from external sources must only be used if one of the following applies:
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The image has a Creative Commons licence (or alternative licence), and you follow the terms of that licence.
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You have purchased the right to use the image (e.g. from a commercial image library)
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You have received written permission to use the image from the original creator or owner
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An educational exception applies. You can obtain more information about this from the Knowledge Services Librarians at Copyright_Requests@nes.scot.nhs.uk or your organisation’s local librarian or communication team.
You must get signed permission from any persons appearing in photographs or videos that you create yourself or have created for you. NES staff can access the consent form for use of personal images here.
If using licenced images you must satisfy yourself that the person or organisation sharing the image is the rightful owner of the image. Where images have been sourced by a third party for use in your resources, you must obtain assurances that your organisation is not liable for any copyright infringement.
Re-use restrictions. If you are making a copy of an existing work or base your work on an existing project (even if it is an NHS project, or you have permission to do so from the creator or even another of your own projects) you must not re-use intellectual property without checking copyright status and licencing terms.
The source of externally produced intellectual property used in digital learning resources must be visibly acknowledged e.g. Source: ACME medical devices limited (2020)
Protecting intellectual property
Where learning resources are developed in partnership with other organisations, the ownership of and responsibilities for intellectual property must be clarified in a signed agreement. Contact the Procurement Team.
Ownership of and responsibilities for intellectual property developed under contract for use in learning resources must be clarified in a signed agreement. Contact your Procurement Team.
The limits for re-use of intellectual property published in learning resources by third parties must be specified using a copyright statement and or Creative Commons licence. For NES staff the default Creative Commons licence is CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0. The Creative Commons licence CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 denotes that other organisations may copy or otherwise use the material providing that the source is clearly acknowledged, it is used for non-commercial purposes and the material is not modified (No Derivatives)
The intellectual property assets used in creating learning resources must be recorded within the resource or stored in a suitable format, such as an assets register spreadsheet.