Copyright

FAQ

Who owns the copyright in the recording?

Any individual piece of content is likely to contain multiple layers or rights with different owners. For example, a feature film will incorporate a screenplay, a soundtrack, the actors’ performances, the musical score along with the film itself. All of these are protected by copyright as separate works with potentially different owners. In the case of recorded lectures at Kent:

• Any teaching materials created by a member of staff as part of their normal duties which are used in the recording are owned by the University.
• The video or audio recording of the lecture itself is owned by the University.
• You own the “performance rights” relating to your image and voice as used in the recording, although you agree to license this to the University when you first set up your Panopto account so recordings can be delivered to your students.
• Any third-party materials used in the recording continue to be owned by the relevant third party. If you have received permission to use the content you should abide by the terms of that permission (e.g. you may be using content covered by Creative Commons licences). If you are relying on fair dealing exceptions for educational use, you should ensure your use of the materials is reasonable. In all cases you should include credit to the author/producer.

Does copyright stop me from recording my lectures?

Copyright law should not stop you from recording lectures and delivering those recordings to registered students so long as you use appropriate content (whether under licence or exception) and credit the author/producer of the work.

Who can see the recordings?

Access to recordings is controlled through Moodle, recordings are linked to a particular Moodle module, and only the students and teachers on the module have access to the recording by default. Additionally, some members of staff within UELT (namely the Learning Technologists) and Information Systems (Campus Support) also have access to recordings in order to provide support and administer the service.

Are recordings publicly accessible?

Not by default, though you can choose to make a recording public, or manually upload the video podcast version of a recording to a public video service, such as YouTube (with the agreement of your Head of Department). If you’d like to make your own recording publicly accessible, see “Can I make my recordings publicly accessible?”

Could students upload my recordings to public web space (YouTube etc.)?

For a student to upload recordings to a public web space without permission would be in breach of academic integrity and IT regulations.

It is technically possible for students to do this; they could, for example, download the podcast version of a recording (where available) and upload it to, for instance, YouTube. However, there is little motive for a student to do so and we have a clear Acceptable Use Policy which informs them that doing so would be a breach of academic integrity and IT regulations, and may therefore be subject to disciplinary action. It can help to make the policy clear to students in the first lecture of a recorded module, and we have some PowerPoint slides you can use.

Can I take a copy of my recordings with me when I leave the University?

As with other types of teaching material, the University grants to staff leaving the University a free licence to use the material for academic purposes, with some caveats. Please see section 4 of the University’s Policy Statement on Intellectual Property for more information.

Can I make my recordings publicly accessible?

You can do so, but you need to be aware of the issues surrounding public access:

1. Although you retain your performance rights in the recording, the University owns copyright in the recording and the Kent-produced teaching materials within it (please see section 4 of the University’s Policy Statement on Intellectual Property). You will therefore need to get permission from your Head of Department before making recordings publicly accessible.
2. Before doing so please check whether you have permission to incorporate any third party images, text or multimedia used in your recording (see copyright clearance guidance)
3. Ensure that no confidential or sensitive materials are included in your recording.
4. The Run, Record, Release, Reuse document gives additional best practice guidance in making recordings available online.

Remember that you can use the editor to remove sections of a recording which may contain this kind of content. You may download the MP4 podcast version of the recording and upload it to a video sharing site such as YouTube [external].

How can I gain the consent on an external speaker?

To gain the consent of external speakers to be recorded, ask them to complete this consent form.

How to I gain consent from student to record them?

It is not necessary to get written consent from students who are attending a lecture that is to be recorded as long as their contribution is limited (e.g. questions or comments). However, they should be made aware that the recording is taking place.

For student presentations a different form is required, which can be found here. Each student featured in the recording of the presentation must complete the form, and you and your School Administration Manager should keep the form for your records.

Can I use the software for other purposes?

Yes, the software is designed to capture any combination of video, audio and computer screen, and so it can be used for a number of purposes in addition to recording lectures. Some examples are:

• An introduction to your module.
• Software demonstrations (see copyright page for further advice).
• Video-based assignment feedback.
• Interviews and site visits (using the iOS app).

In addition, the ability to export recording in MP4 format means that you can make recordings for marketing or promotional purposes and use them on your website or blog. If you are interested in doing this then please also read the advice in “Can I make my recordings publicly accessible?”.
What is the KentPlayer retention policy?

To comply with the academic consent agreement, KentPlayer recordings are retained for the duration of the academic year in which they were made, plus an additional year to support resitting students. After this time, the Moodle-linked folder containing the recordings are deleted, along with any recordings contained within, and cannot be retrieved. For full details of the policy and how to move recordings go to the KentPlayer retention policy page.