Copyright FAQ

Just because something is “available” online does not mean it is “free to use.” Copyright applies automatically. You can freely use works in the Public Domain and to a large extent those with a Creative Commons licence. Always check the specific licence terms. For other materials, you generally need permission unless a specific exception (like the Right to Quote) applies. Always assume a work is protected unless stated otherwise. Additionally, check the webpages on Right to Quote and the Education Exception.

Yes, under the Right to Quote (citaatrecht). This is allowed if:

1. The work has been lawfully made public.
2. The quote is necessary to support your argument (proportionality).
3. The quote is used in a scientific, educational, or critical context.
4. You cite the source correctly.

The quote is used in a scientific, educational, or critical context. Use only the portion you actually need.
Important: Use only the portion you actually need. If you use media just for visual appeal, the Right to Quote does not apply. If in doubt, contact the Copyright Information Point.

Even when a work is labelled “free,” perform this quick check:

1. Lawful publication: Briefly check the source is legally shared e.g. use reverse image search to ensure it wasn’t uploaded to a free site illegally, check the metadata for the copyright holder, search for a copyright notice or mark in the publication.
2. Check the terms and conditions for use: Establish what licence terms apply or if you can apply an exception to copyright. Arrange permission where necessary.
3. Document Your Trail: Save a screenshot of the licence terms and the date. If possible, document your decision-making (this can simply be part of your discourse, or data management plan)
4. Respect Moral Rights: Always credit the creator and avoid using material in defamatory ways.
5. Attribute your source correctly, not only from an academic integrity perspective. Creative commons licences e.g. ask for listing modifications made and linking to the applicable license conditions.

By following these steps, you can make an academic and legally sound attribution and evaluation before reusing someone’s material.

• OER Discovery Tool: Use the UM Library’s OER Discovery Tool to find relevant materials.
• Academic Repositories: Search platforms like Edusources (Dutch) or OER Commons (International).
• Specialist Support: For help check the OER webpage, or contact Team Open Science in Education.

• In legal terms, using data to “train” an AI is considered Text and Data Mining (TDM). A legal exception applies, under strict limits:

  • Scientific Research Purposes: The exception primarily covers non-commercial, scientific research.
  • Lawful Access: You must have legal access to the material, such as through UM Library databases, Open Access content, or specific contracts.
  • Security & Storage: You must implement appropriate security measures for the data gathered and stored during the research process.
  • No Opt-outs: For scientific research, publishers and copyright holders cannot forbid you from doing this.

The safest way to find materials is to search for works with a Creative Commons (CC) licence or those in the Public Domain.

• Images & Art: Use Rijksstudio, The Met Collection, or Europeana. For high-quality photos, use Unsplash or Pixabay (check their specific site terms).
• International Scientific Data: Search global repositories like re3data.org, Zenodo, or Dryad.

Verification: Always perform a “Reverse Image Search” to ensure the source is legitimate. Refer to our “Safety Check” below.

This involves both Copyright (Portrait Rights) and GDPR. The key criterion is identifiability (herkenbaarheid).

• Privacy policy: act in accordance with our internal UM privacy and event policies. Contact UM communications in case of questions.
• Consent: If individuals are clearly identifiable, obtain explicit consent using the applicable Consent Form (a link will follow).
• Information: For large events, inform participants in advance via invitations and signage.
• Right to Object: Under the GDPR, individuals have a legal right to object to the processing of their image. You must comply with removal requests.

Logos may be protected by copyright and are often protected by Trademark Law and reflect official connections.

• UM Logo: Use must follow the UM Brand Guide and is for official business only.
• Third-Party Logos: Ensure use is agreed upon in your contract or request permission from the partner.
• Support: Contact your local or UM Communications Department for branding advice.

To ensure stable and off-campus access, use persistent links such as a DOI. This avoids broken links and ensures compliance with university access rules. For technical instructions on creating proxy links, consult our Reliable Linking &  Embedding Checklist.

Follow your standard citation style (e.g. APA 7th). For materials with a Creative Commons licence, you must also include the licence type and indicate any modifications. Refer to the question ‘How do I make sure I don’t accidentally infringe copyright? ( Safety Check)’.

The sharing of (Digital) Hand-outs is legally a publication, when reusing materials, you typically need permission or make use of exceptions to copyright.

• Treat your presentation materials the same as scientific output. List your sources on a reference / credits slide.
• Link to your sources where possible students can follow the link you have included.
• Use materials incl. images respecting the Right to Quote OR
• Use materials, especially images respecting the Education Exception (if applicable).
• Ask permission from the copyright holder, either via a licence or in writing.
• Mark your presentations with a copyright notice or a Creative Commons licence. You may also be required to state an opt-out for ‘commercial’ Text and Datamining. This can i.e. prevent an LLM is trained on your data (e.g. by platforms such as Studeersnel). Check and update your file metadata to include this information. Check with the Copyright Information Point for more information.

Check our Copyright in education quick guide for guidance. For full legal details (e.g incl. prose and poetry) check the Easy Access Agreement table.
Use KeyLinks for your course if your Faculty uses it, or use a reliable link. For practical help with creating reliable links, check our reliable linking and embedding checklist.

Share a link or use the embed code rather than uploading the file yourself. Linking and embedding are legally safer. Always check that the source is legitimate; do not link to or embed videos that have clearly been uploaded illegally.

Yes:

• Copyright rules are different for a recorded lecture compared to a live teaching session. A recorded session is seen as a public distribution of the work. This means that you have to adhere to copyright law. Learn more about the copyright exception for live teaching.
• Treat the slides visible in a web lecture the same as presentation hand-outs, learn more about the best practices for (lecture) presentation hand-outs.
• Make sure to comply with privacy rules persons need to give permission to be recorded if they are recognisable.
• In case you cannot comply with copyright law, remove the copyrighted materials from the recording or do not publish the recording.

Students own the copyright to their work (theses, reports, designs). To share their work publicly, on a UM website, or within a course, you must obtain explicit, written consent from the student. Always respect a student’s right to be cited as the author.

It depends on the version and the agreements with your publisher:

• Link vs. PDF: Sharing a link to the official version is always safe. Sharing the final publisher PDF is restricted unless it is Open Access. Many publishers allow sharing the preprint or accepted manuscript.
• Taverne Amendment: Under the DCA (Art. 25fa), UM researchers can share short scientific works in the UM repository after a 6-month embargo. Use the UM “You Share, We Take Care” service to automate this and get a shareable permanent link.
• Open Policy Finder: Check what a journal allows regarding your “Accepted Manuscript” via the Open Policy Finder (previously Sherpa Romeo).

Students, not being employees, always own the copyright to their own work. Specific terms in research grants or (internship) contracts may determine otherwise. Check before signing any agreement.

• Open Access publishing: with an Open Access licence you typically retain the necessary rights. However, check the contract to see whether the publisher does not take over the management of permission requests with ND or NC licences. This would mean a loss of control in terms of adaptations such as translations or modifications in future updates.
• Negotiate: the standard contract used by your publisher is not binding as long as you do not agree (submit/sign). You can negotiate the terms of that contract so read the fine print first. Ask yourself: is it an exclusive licence? Can the licence be terminated?
• Taverne: UM researchers can share short scientific works in the UM repository after a 6-month embargo. Use the UM “You Share, We Take Care” service to automate this and get a shareable permanent link.

If you hold the copyright, use the CC Licence Chooser. Consult the CC Wiki and check for faculty-specific policies before deciding. For tailored advice, contact the Copyright Information Point or the Open Education or Open Science specialists. Especially, in cases where it is necessary to have an opt-out toText and Data Mining TDM in place as well.

• Use Pure for research output.
• Policies on inclusion of student output in the UM Theses database vary per faculty. The UM cannot publish your thesis without your permission; you can publish it yourself as well. Always inform your faculty if e.g. your internship contract prohibits you from making the information public.
• Open Educational materials can be published directly on the Edusources platform or on platforms such as MERLOT, OER Commons or the Open Textbook Library.
• Software, act in line with your department’s policy, your funder’s requirements and check with KTO. For more information check with your Faculty’s data steward.

Yes, in principle your work can be used for Text and Data Mining (TDM). Your rights depend on the purpose and the way you publish:

• Scientific Research: Under EU law, you cannot prohibit non-commercial, scientific TDM of your work if the researcher has lawful access. This is a mandatory exception.
• Commercial AI Training: You have the right to opt-out of TDM for commercial purposes, in which case it will not be allowed to perform TDM on your work, or use it to train AI. The law requires a machine-readable reservation (e.g., via the metadata or a robots.txt file). If you do not exercise your right to opt-out, TDM can be performed on your work, without your knowledge or permission.
• Creative Commons licences: Note that CC licences are not a valid way to exercise a TDM opt-out, even if you choose for a CC BY-NC or CC BY-ND. Contact the Copyright Information Point for legal advice should you need to combine a CC licence with an opt-out to TDM.
• Publisher Control: If you publish through a traditional journal, the publisher usually manages the TDM-rights and opt-out settings. You can check this in the contract or the Terms and Conditions. If you self-publish or use a repository, you must ensure the technical metadata includes a formal reservation.

Raw facts are not protected, but your dataset may be protected in two ways:

1. Structure & Selection: Protected if the arrangement reflects the creator’s “personal stamp” (persoonlijk stempel).
2. Database Rights: Protected if there was a “substantial investment” in obtaining or verifying the data (Dutch Database Act).Advice: Contact the Copyright Information Point or your Data Steward to determine if your dataset is protected.

• Ownership: For UM employees, copyright belongs to the University (UM and azM Knowledge Rights Regulations). For students, it remains with the student, unless otherwise agreed with UM.
• Licensing & Subsidies: Open-Source licensing (e.g., MIT, Apache) may be required by your grant.
• Commercial Potential: If your software potentially has commercial value, you must contact the KTO before making it public.
  * Note: As of 2016, UM/MUMC+ decided to accommodate all valorisation and related business development activities in the field of Health and (Life) Sciences at BLMHC. As such, BLMHC is responsible for the entire process, from developing business cases based on your inventions through, if applicable, financing and guiding new businesses. Valorisation activities resulting from the so-called alfa-gamma sciences are performed via the Knowledge Transfer Office (KTO), which is highly connected with BLMHC.

Copyright covers original appearance, not technical function.

• Patents: Technical solutions require a Patent. Check the UM and azM Knowledge Rights Regulations for specifics.
• Confidentiality: Do not share inventions publicly (even in a paper) before talking to a specialist, as this can void patent rights. Contact the KTO <link> or Legal Affairs.

• Human author required: Dutch copyright law only protects works created by a human. Raw AI output is in the Public Domain.
• Your Contribution Matters: If you significantly edit or build upon the AI’s output, your specific additions might be protected.
• Integrity: Using AI output without disclosure may be considered academic misconduct. Always follow the UM AI Guidelines.

Be cautious. While you may have a right to perform research (TDM), using public, commercial AI tools may create a conflict:

• Commercial Opt-outs: Many publishers have “opted out” of allowing their content to be used for commercial AI development via their Terms & Conditions.
• Data Leaks: When you upload a PDF into a tool like the free version of ChatGPT, that company may use the data to improve its commercial model. This effectively bypasses the publisher’s commercial opt-out and may violate UM’s licence agreements.
• Safe Route: Only use UM-supported or “closed” AI environments where your data remains private and is not used to train external models.