6 Seeking third-party content permissions

Western Sydney University authors:

Ask the University Copyright Officer to seek permission on your behalf to re-use third-party content and for further advice on copyright and Creative Commons licensing.

What is third-party content?

Third-party content is created by someone else, a third party, and as such, you do not have the right to licence the content. You may not have the rights for any number of reasons. For example, the content is protected by a trademark, owned by someone else, or licensed under another licence (even if it is the same Creative Commons licence that you applied for).

For all third-party content, you must prominently mark or indicate in a notice that this content is excluded from the Creative Commons licence. Take a look at the examples included on the Smartcopy site.

Where to find user permissions

To help you determine the user permissions of the resources that you find online:

1. Look carefully at the resource you want to use and any information surrounding it to identify licensing information.

2. Review the “about” and “terms of use” pages of the resource’s website for permissions and licensing information.

3. If you cannot find a symbol or statement of the licence or the permissions for use, the copyright owner probably retains all their exclusive rights.

Seeking permission

Use the guidelines below to identify whether you need to seek permission from the copyright holder when repurposing existing materials as OER.

You DO NOT need to ask permission if:

• The resource is in the public domain. However, if resources reside in the public domain, they may contain copyrighted works, so examine the resource and read the terms of use carefully.

• Your intended use falls within a copyright exception or limitation (such as fair dealing).

• The way you want to use the resource complies with the terms of a copyright licence that applies to you, i.e., you already have permission in this case.

You DO need to ask permission if:

• You wish to use a resource protected by copyright, and your intended use would be infringing copyright law.

• You wish to use a resource in a way that is beyond the scope of the permission granted to users in an applicable copyright licence.

You should consider asking for permission if:

• You are uncertain whether an applicable copyright licence permits your intended use.

• You are uncertain about whether a work is protected by copyright.

• You are uncertain whether your intended use falls within a copyright exception.

Attribution: Text is a derivative of Permissions Guide for Educators by ISKME licensed under CC BY 4.0