Foundations of copyright

What is protected by copyright? 

An indicative list of works commonly protected by copyright can be found in article 10 of the Dutch Copyright Act (DCA). A research article, a recorded lecture, or a digital artwork can all be protected works under the DCA.

Copyright is often surrounded by misconceptions. If you would like to explore common myths and misunderstandings about copyright, see our Myths & Misunderstandings.

Criteria for copyright protection

The DCA itself does not give concrete criteria to determine whether a work is protected by copyright. These criteria are developed in Dutch as well as EU Case Law. In sum a work is copyrightable if it meets the following requirements:

1. Expression of the work
   The work must be expressed in some form (e.g. by performance, exhibition, publication). However, it must be expressed in a manner which makes it identifiable with sufficient precision and objectivity, even though that expression is not necessarily permanent in form.
   See e.g. Levola Hengelo (C-310/17) ECLI:EU:C:2018:899.
2. Original character of the work
   The work must have an original character. The Dutch supreme court decided that this means that its form cannot be derived from another work. See e.g. Endstra (HR 30 May 2008) ECLI:NL:HR:2008:BC2153.
3. Personal stamp of the creator
   The work must reflect the creator’s personal stamp at the time of creation. Courts stress that this requires personal, free creative choices, and that the work must be the product of human intellectual effort. See e.g. Infopaq (C-5/08) [2009] ECR I-6624.

If a work meets the above criteria, the copyright emerges automatically.

What is not protected

Not everything is copyrightable and therefore not protected. You can think of: 

• Facts and data (although a collection of data may be protected as a database right under the Dutch Database Act), because they lack originality. 

• Ideas and thoughts, for not being an expression. 

• Styles, methods, theories and techniques, for being functional, abstract or systematic knowledge, not an original expression. 

Example: A teaching method or theory is not protected, but a textbook explaining it usually is.

Rights of creators & users 

Creator & copyright holder 

By writing a journal article, a paper, taking a photo, creating a painting, recording a video, or composing music you are automatically the creator of this work. If the work is copyrightable you automatically receive copyright protection. Registration, use of the copyright symbol, or a copyright notice are not required.

Exclusive legal rights  

A work comes with a bundle of exclusive rights that the creator can exercise. This bundle consists of so-called moral rights and exploitation rights.  

• Moral rights include the right to be recognised as the creator and to object to certain changes to the work.  

• Exploitation rights include the right to make a work available to the public (publish) and to reproduce it. Making a work public includes various actions such as: publishing a work either through a publisher or online by yourself, presenting it at a lecture or conference, or performing it in public or broadcasting it on television or the radio.
   

Permission from the copyright holder is a precondition for lawfully publishing or reproducing a work. For example, uploading a recorded lecture on Mediasite or using another person’s photo in a presentation both require permission from the copyright holder, unless an exception applies.

As the Maastricht University (UM) is located in the Netherlands, usually Dutch copyright law applies.

Transfer of legal rights 

The creator can transfer (sell) his exploitation rights to a third party. Moral rights however, always remain with the creator.

An automatic transfer of copyright applies to works created during employment. However, Dutch law allows parties to deviate from this rule. Always make sure to arrange in advance whether you, UM, your financial provider or your traineeship provider owns the copyright to avoid surprises at the end of your project. 

Validity & duration  

Under Dutch law, Copyright protection automatically starts the moment a work is created. This means it automatically comes into existence without the need to make any registration or to affix the copyright sign -©. In the Netherlands copyright protection lasts for 70 years after the death of the creator. Under circumstances specific provisions apply e.g. with regard to works that were co-created, when a legal entity is considered the creator of a work.

Portrait rights: using images of people

The Dutch Copyright Act (DCA) provides rules with regard to persons portrayed. The DCA defines these as any image of a person (e.g. photos, video/film, drawings, paintings, statues etc.), from which an individual can be identified. Although some legal scholars argue that partial depiction of the face is required, identification can also be triggered by a combination of posture and other unique characteristics.

These rights protect the privacy of the person portrayed and exist alongside the copyright held by the creator (e.g., the photographer). While the creator owns the image, their right to publish is restricted by the portrait rights of the subject. The applicable rules depend on whether the portrait was commissioned by the individual or on behalf of the University, or if it concerns a non-commissioned image (e.g., street photography). Generally, individuals in commissioned portraits have stronger legal grounds to oppose publication.

If you would like to use stock photos or other images featuring identifiable persons, always make sure that the context is neither offensive nor places the subject to appear in a bad light. Furthermore, you are prohibited from implying that the person portrayed endorses your work or publication without their explicit written permission.
For detailed guidance on using images of identifiable persons, please consult the portrait rights section of the Maastricht University (UM) communications guide.

Linking & embedding

Compliance and source integrity

Linking is a reference to a resource, not an act of reproduction. You are not distributing the work itself but providing a pathway to the source. Before you link, verify that the material was published by the rightful copyright holder.

• Compliant: Articles on a publisher’s platform or videos on an organisation’s official YouTube channel.

• High Risk: Full-text papers on ResearchGate or content on personal YouTube accounts. These are often unauthorised uploads. If you cannot establish the lawfulness of a resource, contact the Copyright Information Point.

Linking vs. reproduction

Providing a URL is linking. However, uploading a downloaded file (e.g., a PDF) to an LMS (Canvas) alongside that URL is a reproduction. Reproducing content on a local server requires explicit permission or must fall under a specific institutional license (e.g. permisson under a Library License or the Easy Access Agreement). As a result, linking is the preferred way of sharing.

How to link

To ensure long-term accessibility, always use a persistent link (e.g., DOI or Handle). These remain functional even if the publisher’s website structure changes, whereas standard browser URLs are prone to “link rot.” 
Check our reliable linking & embedding checklist.

Embedding

Embedding displays content (e.g., video, social media posts) from an external site directly within your page. The content remains on the original server.

Legal framework

Embedding does not infringe copyright, provided that:

1. The work was lawfully published with the owner’s consent.

2. The content is freely accessible (not behind a paywall or login).

Technical characteristic

Unlike a static copy, an embed is a live window. If the owner modifies or removes the source content, these changes are immediately reflected in your embed.

Exceptions to copyright

Several exceptions and limitations to copyright law were created to balance the rights of right holders and users of works. We only address the relevant exceptions from a research and teaching perspective under Dutch copyright law.

Right to quote  

In academia it is common to build on the knowledge of others. Whenever you do this, you need to credit your source. If you do not properly cite your source that may amount to plagiarism. 

Under copyright law, the creator or the copyright holder who owns the economic rights is the only person entitled to reproduce (copy) or publish the work. Consequently, reproducing someone else’s work word for word requires securing the creator’s permission in advance. Given the frequency that such reproduction takes place in academic discourse, this would lead to an untenable situation. That is why copyright law explicitly provides for certain exceptions to copyright and to the obligation to seek the permission of the copyright holder. One of these exceptions concerns quoting from a work. According to Dutch copyright law, the right to quote is not only applicable to texts but can be extended to other works e.g., images, video, sounds, etc. 

Usually, if an academic lives up to the highest ethical and academic standards, the legal requirements for the right to quote should be fulfilled. However, contact the Copyright Information Point in case of any ambiguities in relation to your right to quote from a work.

Exception for official texts and documents 

Dutch Copyright Law excludes specific works from protection. You do not need permission to use or share:

• Laws, decrees, and regulations issued by public authorities.
• Court rulings and administrative decisions.
• International treaties and supranational legislation (e.g., EU Directives).

Attribution: The law does not mandate a citation for these documents, but always credit your source (Author, Title, Date, Medium). This ensures transparency and proves the document falls under this legal exception.

Important: Documents with restricted reuse
The following are not automatically in the public domain. You must check for a license (e.g., Creative Commons) or verify the specific status before sharing:

• Technical Standards (NEN/ISO): While some standards are referenced in law, they are generally protected by copyright. Due to ongoing legal complexities regarding “mandatory standards,” always consult the Copyright Information Point before uploading these to a public or shared platform.
• NGO & Think Tank Reports: Examples include publications from Amnesty International or the World Wildlife Fund (WWF). These are private works.
• Intergovernmental Organisations (IGOs): Reports from the OECD, WHO, or World Bank often have specific restrictive licenses.
• Company Reports: Annual accounts and sustainability reports are private corporate works.
• Commissioned Research: Reports written by consultancy firms (e.g., Deloitte) for the government are typically copyrighted by the firm or the contracting authority, they do not automatically enter the public domain.

Limitation of copyright for private copies 

Dutch Copyright Law provides for 2 types of limitations here. 

1. Personal use

• The copying (reproduction) for personal practice, use or study is allowed when the following is observed:
  You must make a non-digital reproduction/copy.
  examples: photocopies, a printout of a digital work, a scale model of a painting or a sculpture etc.
• Small part of a work in writing:
  For example from newspapers, journal articles, books and sheet music, it is only allowed to copy a small part of the work. A small part is not defined in the law; the goal is to prevent rights holders from being put in an adverse position because people are copying an entire publication and no longer buying a copy. Out-of-press works or short articles, news messages or other parts published in a (daily) newspaper, or a periodical (e.g. a weekly or a journal) are excluded from this rule.
• No sharing: personal use of natural persons, i.e. the copy is not shared or handed over to e.g. a friend.

2. Digital copies

• You make a digital copy of a work on a data storage device (USB flash drive; laptop harddisk, phone, e-reader etc.). The copy serves the purpose of personal study, practice or use. This is not restricted to a small part of a work.
• When you bought the device a fee was included in the purchase price
• No sharing: Personal use of natural persons, i.e. the copy is not shared or handed over to e.g. a friend.
•  

Right to text and data mining by research organisations and cultural heritage institutions 

Text and Data Mining (TDM) is “the automated process of selecting and analysing large amounts of text or data resources for purposes such as searching, finding patterns, discovering relationships, semantic analysis and learning how content relates to ideas and needs in a way that can provide valuable information needed for studies, research, etc.”.
Text and data mining at Springer Nature. (n.d.). Springer Nature. Retrieved February 23, 2026, from https://www.springernature.com/gp/researchers/text-and-data-mining

TDM can be performed on both structured and unstructured data resources and across disciplines.
Think of crawling, web scraping or other techniques used to group scientific papers into clusters, or to identify which drug inhibits what disease, or to study how certain indicators evolve across decades, or to analyse social media data to measure public sentiment in relation to a specific policy.

UM staff and students can perform TDM, as long as they do so for scientific research purposes, and provided they have lawful access to such materials. Lawful access covers content accessible through subscriptions with publishers or other contractual agreements, such as licensing and data sharing, Open Access materials, and materials available freely online, that is uploaded with the copyright holder’s consent, accessible to anyone, and not requiring bypassing technical restrictions. UM staff and students can retain copies of the materials on which TDM was performed, provided the retention is done for scientific research purposes – including the verification of results – and appropriate security measures are applied.

Provided the aforementioned conditions are met, publishers or other copyright holders of the materials are not allowed to restrict TDM by introducing for example download limits or imposing additional costs, or other conditions.

When engaging in TDM, one should also keep in mind that the rules relating to the protection of personal data might also be applicable. The GDPR allows for the processing of personal data for scientific research purposes, provided that:  

• appropriate measures are in place to secure the data;  
• personal data are processed for a specified, explicit and legitimate purpose;
• you do not collect more personal data than necessary to fulfill the purpose for which you are processing the data.

For questions relating to the GDPR, please contact your Faculty’s Data Steward, dedicated Privacy Officer, dedicated Information Manager or the general UM Data Privacy Officer.
For any questions relating to TDM and Copyright, please reach out to the Copyright Information Point.

Educational use exceptions 

In education, we build on the works of others by using literature and other media to teach. Specific copyright exceptions and agreements make this possible.

Next, we explain:

• What you can display or perform during (online) classroom sessions.
• How to share learning resources in Canvas under the Easy Access Agreement.

The right to quote for academic purposes is a separate statutory exception.

Live classroom use

You can present copyrighted materials (e.g., videos, images, articles) without needing explicit permission of the copyright holder, as long as the session is conducted for educational purposes and is formally part of the official course design/programme or serves a scientific purpose (art. 12(5) DCA).

The following additional criteria need to be met: 

• Non-commercial purpose: The session must be for non-commercial educational purposes only. Contact the Copyright Information Point (CIP) when in doubt about the nature of your teaching activities. 

• Attribution: The Dutch Copyright Act requires that you reference the sources of any materials used in your teaching, unless it is impossible to do so. Track down the original source of an image or paper, contact the CIP in case of further questions. 

• Online teaching: Online teaching sessions enjoy the same benefits in terms of copyright. However, these sessions must take place in a secure environment, only accessible to Maastricht University (UM) enrolled students and teaching staff.  

The above is only true for (online) live classroom uses. In case you record a session, and make it available afterwards (Canvas, Mediasite etc.), you need to comply with standard Copyright law. If you cannot apply an exception to copyright, have permission in writing e.g. a (open access) license, you may have to remove parts of your recording. You need to plan ahead if you want to make a recording available. 

Publishing course materials on Canvas

If possible, you should link to course materials instead of sharing uploads. This is advisable from a business perspective (less costs for the UM), sustainability perspective (less data storage necessary) and a legal perspective (less legal discussions).If linking is not possible or desirable from a teaching perspective you may be able to apply the Educational use exception (art. 16 DCA).

You don’t need permission to share materials provided that:
The reuse serves an educational purpose. 

1. The education is of a non-commercial nature 
2. The reuse is limited to a part acceptable according to ‘social standards’. This requirement is explained and refined in case law.  
3. A fee must be paid to compensate the copyright holder.

Regarding the amount of reuse and the fees due an agreement, the Dutch Universities, including UM, have made an Agreement with Stichting UvO, a Collective Management Organisation (CMO) representing Dutch publishers, international publishers and Pictoright. This agreement (which is regularly updated) determines under what conditions information can be reused for educational purposes.

The UM pays a lump-sum under which certain extracts can be used without further permission from the copyright holder (publisher, author etc.).

Conditions of the Easy Access Agreement

Conditions for the use of extracts set out in the current Easy Access Agreement.