Copyright and other constraints on the use of information – strand (d)

Being an effective digital communicator means – amongst other things – understanding what is and is not allowed.

We think that it is important for DiDA students to recognise that there are copyright and other constraints attached to the use of information in products and publications intended for the public domain.

DiDA students are expected to put what they know into practice. However, we do recognise that sometimes students struggle to find appropriate copyright-free material or to get permission to use material that belongs to someone else.

With this in mind, we have agreed what we hope is an acceptable compromise.

To be eligible for five marks or more in strand (d) at Level 2 and nine marks at Level 1, students must have demonstrated awareness of copyright and other constraints on the use of information either by producing products that are fully compliant or by explaining what changes would need to be made in order to make them so.

This means that they have a number of options. They can:

• use material that is copyright-free
• produce material themselves
• get permission to use material that belongs to someone else (providing that the owner of the material is made fully aware of the intended context and purpose of the product/publication in which their material will be used)
• use material from other sources, providing they explain what changes would need to be made to the product/publication in order to make it fit for its intended purpose. For example: “the image of the clown on my digital poster would need to be replaced with an original or copyright-free image before the poster can be used to publicise the event, as intended”.

We intend to enforce this amendment to the assessment evidence requirements from summer 2008 onwards.