Copyright on UCPH

Texts are generally protected by copyright, and it is therefore not legal to reproduce them without specific permission from the author or publisher. The University of Copenhagen has an agreement with Copydan that allows university employees, within certain limits, to reproduce and share copyrighted material for teaching purposes. When material is used within the framework of this agreement, it is generally not necessary to obtain separate permission from the author, publisher, or other rights holders.

Each employee is responsible for ensuring that their use complies with the terms of the agreement and with applicable copyright regulations at all times.

The University of Copenhagen's copyright agreement

A maximum of 20% or 50 pages from a single source may be used—whichever limit is reached first. This restriction applies regardless of the publication year and includes both printed and digital publications.

Texts that do not fall under the University of Copenhagen's agreement

Text publications that are not covered by the University of Copenhagen’s copyright agreement, and can therefore be used without following the agreement’s rules, include unpublished material (for which you must obtain written permission from the author), texts by authors who have been deceased for more than 70 years, as well as legislation, circulars, regulations, and similar documents. If you are in doubt, you are always welcome to contact us.

Rules for using websites

A maximum of 50 pages from a freely accessible website may be used in a printed course reader. In these cases, the 20% limit does not apply. This exception only covers publicly accessible websites. Material from databases, journal portals, member areas, subscription services, or other access‑restricted resources is often governed by separate licensing terms and therefore cannot necessarily be reproduced under the general rules of the University’s copyright agreement. In such cases, it may be necessary to obtain separate permission from the rights holder or provider before the material may be used.

Digital Sharing of Material via Absalon

The copyright rules that apply to printed course readers also apply to the digital sharing of teaching materials via Absalon and other University of Copenhagen learning platforms. When uploading articles, book chapters, excerpts, scanned documents, PDF files, or other copyrighted material to Absalon, the same limitations and conditions must be observed as when producing printed teaching materials. This means, among other things, that the limits on the amount of reproduced material still apply, and that uploading material to Absalon does not exempt the user from complying with copyright law or the terms of the University’s agreement with Copydan. All employees who make teaching materials available to students via Absalon should therefore ensure that the material is used in accordance with applicable rules and agreements.

Contact

If you have questions regarding copyright, the use of teaching materials, or the interpretation of the University of Copenhagen’s copyright agreement, you may contact Campus Print for further guidance.