Copyright in the publication of student work

Right to quote

You have the right under the Copyright Act to quote from published works. You may quote to the extent justified by the purposes and, in accordance with good practice, you must always indicate where the quote comes from. The limit of the right to quote varies. In scientific or critical representations, when the purpose is to analyse and critically examine, one has the right to reproduce in some cases quite large sections of a work.

Copyright and images

I want to use pictures and diagrams in my academic paper that I have downloaded from a book/the internet. Do I need permission to publish these?

This question has a short answer: YES.

If you are going to publish your academic paper electronically in DiVA, you must ask for permission from the copyright owner as long as the images are not marked with a license (e.g. any of the Creative Commons licenses) that allows the use, or the time for protection of the image has expired. You can also choose not to publish the images in your electronic edition. Then, instead of the images, you can write, for example, that "for reasons of copyright law, the images are missing from the electronic edition."

Using images, diagrams, drawings, and photographs in your own work is a complex issue. It is not permitted to use pictures, diagrams, drawings, and photographs to any extent or in any way you like. The creator of a work always owns the rights to his/her/their work.

According to the law, published works of art may be reproduced in a scientific text which has not been produced for gainful purposes. This authorisation is to apply only if the representation is made to that extent which is in accordance with good practice and which is justified by the purpose. You may not scan images from a book or magazine to use in your academic paper because then you are violating the rights of the creator (both the person who took the photo and the person in the image depicted).

You may not modify an image or make a collage of images without permission because it may be against the original artists’ intentions. Neither is it clear that you may use a drawing that you have made yourself in which you depict exactly one work. Thus, copyright cannot be circumvented by making your own copy of the image.

You may also not use a drawing of a protected design. It is the design idea that is protected, not the physical object. In this case, the drawing is a different expression of the same idea, which means that you can use a drawing in your preparatory work, but cannot include it in your academic paper.

You may not use an image, diagram, or photo in any way you like; rather you must have the creator's permission. The creator of a work always retains his/her/their moral rights. It is the economic rights that can be transferred to a publisher. You should contact both the creator and the publisher to obtain permission to use the work. The same rules apply to images you find on the internet because the creator has the same rights regardless of the media. If you still want to use an image that you have found on the internet and cannot find information about the creator, refer then to an "unknown artist/photographer" and write in your introduction that you have not found the creator, but if anyone considers themselves to have the right to any of the images, they are welcome to contact the author.

Text: Åsa Dryselius, the university's Legal Expert

Do you have questions about copyright?

Contact: Åsa Dryselius