FAQ Copyright, Sharing Materials

Case 1: The Textbook Is No Longer Commercially Available
Complete copy and upload to the internal school network is permitted.
Case 2: Copyright Protection Has Expired
Complete copy and upload to the internal school network is permitted.
Case 3: Textbook Is (Still) Protected by Copyright and Commercially Available
Do not upload without the author’s permission, as the reproduction of entire copies of works (books, magazines, films…) or a largely complete reproduction is not permitted under Art. 19 para. 3 lit. a URG (Urheberrechtsgesetz = Copyright Law). However, an excerpt may be uploaded without permission. Requirement: Access to Ilias for enrolled students (virtual and individually customizable school class or a student group of a module) with password protection.
Case 4: The Entire Textbook Is Made Available Digitally and with Permission
Downloading and saving the entire e-book for your own personal use is permitted. However, only excerpts of the entire e-book may be made available or passed on via the internal school network.

• Exception 1: The license agreement with the publisher permits more than just an excerpt upload for educational purposes.
• Exception 2: If the e-book is already licensed for the university campus (e.g. by the library), every student can access the entire e-book. A license agreement that restricts the permitted school use is irrelevant, as the provision of school use is mandatory.

There are no specifications in the URG regarding the scope. Generally, a largely complete copy of a work is one that is so extensive that it is of no interest to the user to purchase the work. However, there are no rules such as ten pages, two chapters or 10% of a work. A largely complete reproduction of a work is assumed if the majority of the work has been reproduced.

An entire book may be scanned for private purposes (e.g. for yourself, for a friend, for close family members). For teaching purposes, however, only a password-protected excerpt may be made available.

A book is out of print if it cannot be purchased via the usual distribution outlets or via the Internet, i.e. if it is no longer available in stores and if no new edition is planned. Out-of-print books may be reproduced in their entirety for school use, even if individual copies can be purchased in antiquarian bookshops.

Yes, as a teacher you are permitted to use such works for teaching in the classroom – even in a virtual, individually customizable school class.

If a video is not commercially available, it can be used for teaching purposes and uploaded to an internal school platform (with a server location in Switzerland, e.g. ILIAS).

If the video is not commercially available, it can be used for teaching purposes and uploaded to an internal school platform (with a server location in Switzerland). The URG permits any use of the work for this purpose, including modifications and adaptations.
The URG does not explicitly require the source to be cited, but it still is sensible to indicate the source. In addition, citing the author is in line with good academic practice.

An excerpt of commercially available music from sound (image) carriers (CD, iTunes) may be used for teaching purposes and uploaded to an internal school platform (ILIAS etc.), but use on the Internet is not permitted.

• Teachers may provide their pupils with complete radio and TV broadcasts for teaching purposes on the school’s internal data network.
• Teachers may not completely or almost completely reproduce commercially available films from DVDs, Blu-Rays, etc. They may only make film excerpts available on Ilias.

In principle, yes, HSLU students have non-exclusive rights to use and exploit the work they produce as part of their studies in accordance with the study regulations for education (Art. 34 ff., SRL No. 521).  Possible confidentiality obligations towards the commissioner of the work must be observed in any case.

• The use of third-party, copyright-protected images in your own publication is possible, provided permission is obtained from the copyright holder.
• The rights holder/collecting society (if it manages the rights) must be contacted. They must be informed for what purpose and in what way (modified/unmodified) the image is to be used; any costs and details regarding the indication of source must be clarified.
• If consent is not given, the image may not be used
• If the work is a so-called orphan work (unknown/untraceable rights holder), the collecting society can grant permission for use in return for payment under the conditions of Art. 22b URG.
• The use of third-party images is possible without permission if their copyright protection has expired or if they are „quoted“. Requirements for (image) quotation according to Art. 25 URG: The quotation must serve as an explanation, reference or illustration and the scope of the quotation must be justified by this purpose. The quotation as such and the source must be identified. It is not a quotation and therefore inadmissible to use other people’s images purely for decorative illustration.
• Images from freely accessible sources (OER) can be used in your own publication in accordance with the specified Creative Commons licenses.

• Principle: Any use of the work, including modification, is permitted for teaching purposes.
• However, „permitted school use“ does not apply to computer programs, i.e. the copying of software for teaching purposes in schools is not permitted
• Use may be possible depending on the licensing conditions of the software company.

Excerpts/incomplete copies are permitted for teaching purposes (courses on password-protected ILIAS, OLAT etc.).

Only if the school concert is a teaching event with a learning purpose.

Students may scan their own orchestra parts for their own use, but not the entire score to pass on to colleagues. (Colleagues of your own string quartet may be allowed to do so if the colleagues in the quartet are also close friends, as this can still pass for personal use. However, this rationale does hardly work in the case of a chamber orchestra.)

Questionable, as the legal risks and ambiguities have not yet been clarified (globally). The input and training data for the AI is often protected by copyright. Thus, there is a risk that an image created with AI may infringe the rights of these authors if it is posted online under a free license.

The legal aspects regarding the use of AI-generated images are currently not clearly defined. It is unclear whether AI image generators or their users may infringe the copyrights of artists. On the other hand, images created by AI are generally not protected by copyright and therefore cannot be legally protected.

There is no definite answer. The tricky thing is that with online publications, there is always the question which national law applies on the internet. The applicable national copyright law determines whether image citations are permitted. Under Swiss copyright law, image citations are possible under certain conditions (indicate the image citation as such [1], indicate the authorship [2], and cite the source [3]).

Add a copyright notice to the source of the citation.

Article 27 URG (freedom of panorama): Yes, if the building is permanently located on publicly accessible ground. Distribution and utilization is possible without indication of source/copyright and also for commercial purposes.

Yes, in principle this is permitted. Embedding is possible because technically the video continues to run on YouTube. For other video platforms, it depends on the technical requirements; if in doubt, check the license conditions. It is also important that the video is freely accessible to all internet users on the video platform. With social media platforms, check your own license conditions.

No problem in terms of copyright, but it might be one in terms of personal rights. The consent of the person must be obtained. Pictures of homogeneous crowds are fine. However, if a single person stands out and is clearly recognizable, they must be asked for permission.