Information searching

Copyright protects creators of literary and artistic works the exclusive right to decide how their work is used. For a creative work to receive protection, it has to fill certain requirements, i.e., it has to be original and independent.

Copyright protects the expression of an original and independent work but not the actual idea, information, theory or principle itself. Copyright is created automatically when the work is created and does not require publication, registration or the use of the symbol ©.

It is permitted to copy or scan a few copies of a published work (for example a book or journal) for personal use like for studying and hobbies. Personal use means family and closest friends. The copy cannot be used for other purposes later.

All material found online is not automatically free to use. If you, for example, add a photo to your home page, no one can copy or use it without your permission. However, it is permitted to link to free online materials.

What to do when you want to use material found online:

1. Contact the creator and ask for permission.

Tip! If you do not know the creator of a photograph, you can use Google's reverse picture search at https://images.google.com/ by clicking the camera icon. You can search for a photo with the web address or by downloading it from your computer. Google searches for pages where the photo is and even suggests similar photographs.

2. Search for open Creative Commons (CC) licensed material here: http://search.creativecommons.org/

Creative Commons is a nonprofit organisation that has developed a license system allowing creators to distribute their work in various ways. The licenses are defined according to four different conditions:

 BY Attribution: The name of the creator must be mentioned in connection with the work.

 NC NonCommercial: The work can not be used for commercial purposes.

 ND NoDerivatives: The work can not be changed or modified.

 SA ShareAlike: A modified work must be distributed with the same license as the original.

These four conditions can be combined into six different Creative Commons licenses of which three are commercial and three non-commercial. Click on the link next to the license for more information. Source and more info on CC-licenses.

Student has copyright to their own material, such as a thesis. Students must give permission to save their work online or the university's intranet.