(Electronic) provision of materials according to §60a UrhG

For an overview (as of 01.03.2018) of the possibilities of using materials within the scope of teaching at KIT, please refer to the adjacent graphic.

Paragraph 60a of the German Copyright Act regulates the possibilities of permission-free (without the existence of a corresponding licence) use of materials in the context of teaching and learning at universities. This also includes the provision of materials via the learning platform ILIAS, the so-called "making available to the public" (previously, until 28.02.2018, this was regulated in §52a UrhG).
The law contains precise regulations concerning the requirements and the permitted scope of use. If these conditions are fulfilled, you as a lecturer do not have to worry about the remuneration of the use, because a lump sum is paid to the collecting societies via the universities or the federal state.

An Overview of the Key Provisions

What conditions for use are specified in Section 60a of the German Copyright Act (UrhG)?

The use must serve to illustrate instruction and teaching and must not pursue any commercial purpose. Authorized users are instructors and participants in the same course. This may also include instructors and participants from other universities if they are involved in a KIT course. In addition, all KIT instructors and examiners are authorized, even if they do not have a direct connection to the course. Since use under Section 60a of the German Copyright Act (UrhG) provides for a limited group of authorized users, you, as an instructor, must implement appropriate access restriction measures when making materials available electronically. On the ILIAS learning platform, for example, this can be done through password-protected access to the course environment. Thus, Section 60a of the UrhG does not cover unrestricted access, such as that which might occur, for example, through public distribution via a website (different regulations apply here, such as Section 60b of the UrhG External Link).

What forms of use are provided for in Section 60a of the German Copyright Act (UrhG)?

Section 60a of the German Copyright Act (UrhG) permits the use of teaching materials across different media formats. The provisions apply to the reproduction, distribution, public disclosure, and any other form of public communication of a work. Thus, for example, the same requirements apply to making paper copies (reproduction) as to making them available online via a learning platform (making them publicly accessible).

What can be used?

The following may
be used in their entirety:  

  • Images/photos
  • Articles from academic journals
  • Out-of-print works
  • Works of limited length (text: 25 pages; film and music: 5 minutes; sheet music: 6 pages)

No
more than 15% may be used from
 

  • Works of substantial length
  • Articles from newspapers and (general-interest) magazines


The provisions of §60a of the German Copyright Act (UrhG) do not
permit  

  • the making and distribution of paper copies of sheet music
  • recording (audio/video) or streaming works while they are
    being performed or presented  

Don’t forget!

In addition to using materials under Section 60a of the German Copyright Act (UrhG), it is of course also possible to use them in accordance with an existing license (e.g., a Creative Commons license or an individual license agreement) or, if the relevant conditions are met, within the scope of the right to quote, §51 UrhG. You can find an overview of the relevant copyright regulations regarding the use of third-party materials in teaching on the KIT Library’s website in the OER Policy division.

In principle, § 63 UrhG External Link and the rules of good research practice require that, whenever copyrighted works are used, both the source and the author be clearly cited.

It is also always possible to provide links to works (works licensed for KIT via the KIT catalog External Link or freely accessible works on the Internet).

Additional helpful information pages


Data protection 

May contributions from students be recorded?
The provision of a recording of the course is particularly valuable for students. The same applies to the active participation of students through questions and contributions to the discussion. There is a conflict of objectives here. Speeches and visual contributions by students may not be recorded. There is no legal basis or practicable way to record students. This is not a problem in normal lectures. Questions in the chat are not recorded and the lecturer's microphone in the room does not pick up interposed questions from the room. Just make sure that the participants are muted in Zoom & Co. Briefly repeat questions from the chat and the room verbally so that not only your answer but also the corresponding question is included in the recording.
The situation is different for discussion phases. Here, verbal questions from online participants would also be recorded. In this case, the recording can be paused with Zoom simply by using a keyboard shortcut (Linux: Alt+P,Mac: Command(⌘)+Shift+P, Windows: Alt+P).
What about contributions from students in the livestream??
This is much easier in a pure livestream without recording. Students can activate their own microphone and camera image and a camera can be set up in the seminar, for example, so that students can see each other online and on site. This should always be voluntary for both sides. When participating via the Internet, students can decide for themselves whether to activate the camera and microphone. You should always give students on site the opportunity to sit down outside of the camera's coverage. This means that it should be easily recognizable on site that a camera is being used and which area it is recording.