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Before the Content: Copyright and Licenses
:class: tip
This page is useful for user type 3-5.
The previous sections have familiarized you with the necessary software for your user type, the basics of Git, and how to collaborate with your team using Git. Now it's time to create your own content. This section will provide an overview of the copy right laws which need to be taking into account when creating and including content at TU Delft!
Although the focus of TeachBooks is mostly to help the teaching staff create interactive textbooks for their students, it can be attractive to spread ones wings a bit and reach a wider audience. The checklist on this page provides a quick overview of the minimium information you should be aware of when getting started in terms of copyright, avoiding legal issues and making your life easier later on when/if you decide to publish your book with an open license, for example via TU Delft Open.
For more information specifically related to online books read the following pages; for more generic information about publishing visit the TU Delft Copyright website.
Quick Start: the Copyright Checklist
0) If your book is accessible online, it is already published!
This may surprise you, but legally speaking, once your book content is available online, it is technically already published. A quick search on the internet reveals most definitions involve two key words: to issue something for distribution. Thus, the act of sharing book material with students via the internet is a form of publishing. Of course this is different than doing so via an established publisher, for example: others may not be able to easily find the material, the product may be unfinished, mistakes may be present, etc. However, this means that copyright ownership and authorship has been established and must be considered (by you!) in at least two ways:
- You are responsible for properly attributing the work of others included in your book, and
- You should explicitly state how you would like others to (re)use the content in your book.
The remaining checklisk items cover the first point, which is where the risk of legal and financial consequences for you and your employer lie. Continue with the following pages to find out more about the second point.
1) Your own new content
If you have created the content yourself, you are allowed to use it if there are no other agreements in place
2) Somebody else's content
If you want to re-use someone else’s work, you need to ask for permission. When you ask for permission please do it in a written format and let the copyright holders know that you are going to use their work in an open licensed work. If they give you permission, exclude the work from the open licensed conditions applicability, by stating that in the attribution/footnote/caption. Exclude it as well in the colophon of the work. If you have asked for permission and you received no answer back, please consider it as a negative response and abstain using the work you were intended to.
If you really need to re-use someone else’s work, please also check whether the copyright exception right to quote is applicable to you.
More info: Citations , Use copyrighted multimedia , Use copyrighted text.
3) Your own old content
Always attribute the works that are not created by you. Even if created by you, you need to attribute yourself in order to avoid self-plagiarism. Read how to here.
Even if you have created the work yourself but years ago, please check whether you have the right to re-use it. If you have created it while you were under the employment of your previous employer, then you will need to ask permission from them.
4) Open licensed work
If you want to re-use someone else’s work, please check whether you can find an open licensed work, which can replace the work you wanted to re-use in the first place. More info: Open licensed work platforms.
If you use open licensed work, you need to attribute the license under which the work is licensed and you need to check the compatibility of the licenses. This means you need to check the license that the work you want to reuse has and the license that your TeachBook will be licensed with. More info here.
When you want to adapt previously published work you need to ask permission for it. Otherwise please check whether you can find an open licensed work that you can adapt if their license it permits it.