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Copyright

What is copyright?

Copyright is the right:

1. to be credited for an original work.
   This right is not transferable and lasts forever!
   
   
2. to adapt, use, copy or sell an original work.
   This right can be wholly or partly transferred to, for example, a publisher. It lasts for 70 years after the creator's death.

You do not have to do anything to obtain copyright, such as registering your work or putting a copyright symbol or statement in your work. Copyright applies automatically from the moment of creation.

Why should copyrighht interest me?

Copyright does not exist to make your life more difficult, but to protect your rights as a (potential) creator/author!

You might find yourself in one of these situations:

• You want to publish a scientific article or paper. You need to at least transfer the right to publish the article in a specific journal for a specific time.
• You want to receive your PhD from TU Delft. You need to give TU Delft permission to publish your thesis in the institutional repository
  
• While on an intership, you invent a great, new product. The company will usually get the exploitation rights. Look at the small print of your employment contract!
• In your Master's thesis, you want to add some graphics or images you found on the internet. You first need to find the person or organisation which holds the copyright and ask for permission. If this is not possible, you should at least acknowledge the source.

Quiz: test your knowledge

How to protect your rights

Think carefully about transferring your copyrights. Do not give away more than the publisher needs! Most publishers will ask you to sign a standard contract, transferring all exploitation rights for an article, because this is easier for them.

Try to negotiate the terms of the contract or license:

• limit any exclusivity conditions to a certain period of time
• make sure you will still have the right to use the work for your later publications, e.g. as part of your PhD thesis

How to use copyrighted work

You can use copyrighted work if you follow these rules:

• cite or paraphrase text from articles, books, papers, websites, lectures and e-mails
• acknowledge the creator of photos, images, films and sounds

If you do not follow these rules, you are guilty of plagiarism. If you get caught, the consequences could be disastrous for your academic career.

You can find more details in the Dutch copyright law text in OpMaat (campus only).

Reference

Copyright - Wikipedia 2008. [Web Page] Wikipedia.org, 29-7-3008 [cited 30-7-2008].
     Available from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copyright