During your book production process, you might wish to undergo different methods, such as employing computational, visual or analytical tools or software to aid your research and findings.
1. Using Computational and Analytical Tools
Computational and analytical tools, such as text analysis software, visualisation platforms (e.g.Tableau), and data mining applications, enable researchers to process and explore large volumes of text, images, or other data.
In the UK, such tools can be used to analyse copyrighted and openly licensed materials, provided certain conditions are met:
• Access: You must have legal access to the material (e.g., through a subscription, license, or open platform).
• Attribution: Proper acknowledgment of the source is required.
• Purpose: The use must align with research, education, or analysis objectives.
*Always check the permissions before you use copyrighted materials.
2. Fair Dealing Rules for Copyrighted Materials
Fair dealing in the UK allows limited use of copyrighted materials for specific purposes:
• Research and Private Study: Non-commercial use with proper attribution.
• Criticism or Review: Excerpts can be used to support analysis, with acknowledgment.
• Transformative Use: Outputs must not compete with the original material or substitute for it.
• Using Openly Licensed Content
If the material you are using is openly licensed (e.g., under a Creative Commons license such as CC BY, CC BY-SA, or CC0), you have greater flexibility in creating and sharing outputs:
• Visualisations: You can release visualisations, diagrams, and other outputs directly derived from the content, provided you comply with the license terms.
• For CC BY: Attribute the original source.
• For CC BY-SA: Share outputs under the same license.
• For CC0: No attribution is required, though it is good practice.
• Outputs: Include charts, interactive dashboards, diagrams or textual analyses that utilise the openly licensed content.
• Narrative Findings: These can also be freely shared under any open license of your choosing.
Example Attribution for Openly Licensed Content:
“This visualization is based on data from [Source Name], licensed under CC BY 4.0. Outputs are shared under the same license.”
4. Using Copyrighted Content in Computational Tools
You can analyse large portions of copyrighted material using computational tools, but publishing results requires careful consideration:
• Narrative-Only Outputs: Findings derived from analysis can be shared openly, as they represent original intellectual work.
• Restrictions on Visual Outputs:
• Outputs (e.g., diagrams, charts, visualizations) must be highly transformative, abstracting the original material.
• Visualizations should not replicate substantial elements of the original material unless explicitly allowed by the copyright holder.
5. Incorporating Findings into Openly Licensed Outputs
When incorporating findings resulting from copyrighted materials into outputs like an creative commons licensed open textbook, ensure:
• No Substantial Reproduction: Avoid including large excerpts or visuals closely based on copyrighted material.
• Abstract Visualisations: Use summaries or aggregate data that do not reveal the original material.
• Proper Attribution: Acknowledge the source materials and tools used.
When Using Openly Licensed Content:
• You can freely include visualisations, charts, or analyses in your openly licensed outputs, as long as you comply with the terms of the original license.
6. Tools and Platforms
When using tools like Tableau, or computational analysis software, consider:
• Licensing of Tools: Ensure the tool permits sharing outputs under open licenses (e.g., CC BY).
• Compliance with Source Terms: Verify that both the tool and the source materials allow the intended use.
• Support for Transformative Outputs: Use tools that facilitate abstract, non-replicative outputs (e.g., statistical visualisations, anonymised summaries).
7. Permissions and Alternatives
If fair dealing or transformative use does not suffice, consider these options:
• Seek Permission: Contact copyright holders for explicit permission to use and share materials.
• Use Openly Licensed or Public Domain Content: Opt for resources with Creative Commons (e.g., CC BY, CC0) or public domain licenses.
• Transform Content: Create abstract representations that avoid replicating substantial portions of the original work.
8. Example Scenarios
• Openly Licensed Content: A openly licensed dataset of trade routes was used in a digital humanities project where the students used tools to create an interactive map with visualised infrastructure of trade routes. Due to the freedoms of the assigned creative commons license, and the software permissions, the students were able to publish the visual map under a CC-BY license.
• Copyrighted Content (Fair Dealing):
Now, let’s imagine that the trade route information was under copyright. But that data sounds potentially old, right, doesn’t that automatically make it out of copyright?! Well, yes – that’s true. Here’s where it can get a little complicated. Imagine there is a book, written over three hundred years ago, lovingly looked after in a special collections Library in an institution somewhere or other. Now by law, that book has indeed fallen out of copyright. But this particular Library has decided that any reproductions of that book, for example images, hold certain rights, bare fees to reproduce and also have strict terms of use. Now, this does not always happen; some institutions release images, manuscripts, datasets and other materials under CC-BY, or under CC-BY-ND (no derivatives) licence which you need to be equally cautious about using. So in this example, the dataset was based on an image that was copyrighted by the institution. It’s a lot easier when people make their work CC-BY, right?
But, these are things to watch out for, and the lesson is: Always read the small print. Before you begin planning what you can do with a material, determine what you cannot. Some institutions may require you to seek permission and explain how you intend to use specific materials, so be as open as possible and plan out exactly what you need the materials for before requesting permission.
Using restricted materials
• Allowed:
Writing a narrative discussing trends derived from analysis without including substantial parts of the original copyrighted material.
• Not Allowed: Including a visualisation that closely resembles or duplicates large sections of copyrighted material without permission.
9. Best Practices
• Focus on Findings: Highlight your insights and conclusions rather than reproducing copyrighted source materials.
• Abstract Visuals: For copyrighted content, ensure visual outputs are sufficiently transformed to avoid copyright infringement.
• Attribute Sources: Always credit the original materials and tools used in your research.
• Use Open Content When Possible: Openly licensed materials simplify the process of creating and sharing outputs.
• Consult your friendly neighbourhood Open Education Adviser! If ever in doubt, seek advice!
Summary
If your source materials are openly licensed, you can freely create and share visualisations and other outputs, provided you comply with the licensing terms. For copyrighted materials, focus on narrative findings or abstract outputs, ensuring compliance with fair dealing or seeking permission when necessary.