Institutions of higher education

Our copying licence allows copies to be made by students, teachers, researchers, lecturers and other staff of the institution of higher education.

The copying licence allows you to make copies to the extent permitted by the licence, provided that the works or publications are not subject to any of the prohibitions or restrictions set out in the licence terms.

You can make copies of

• printed publications,
• e-books, publications behind a paywall or other digital publications to which you have contractual or subscription-based access or which are freely available, or

• works, such as images or texts, that have been published on the internet with the copyright holder’s consent.

The copying licence does not allow you to copy

• workbooks or answer keys,
• a publisher’s digital learning materials,
• digital sheet music publications,
• digital standards,
• works from digital services covered by a separate agreement or licence, such as the SFS Online service or the RT File,

• works created by private individuals and shared by them on social media, discussion forums, blogs or image-sharing services, or
• works or publications the copying and use of which under Kopiosto’s licence have been prohibited by the copyright holder. See the list at www.kopiosto.fi/en/kopiosto/copying-prohibitions.

The copying licence does not apply to

• audiovisual works, such as videos,
• recordings containing only music,

• software, computer games or databases, or
• works that can be copied and used under a CC (Creative Commons) or similar open licence or right of use.

These works are subject to their own licence terms or usage rights, according to which you may use them in your teaching.

The copying of a single image from a website or printed publication is regarded as copying one page.

You can photocopy, print and scan works or parts of works, and copy them digitally, such as by

• copying an image or text from a website

• taking a screenshot
• downloading and/or saving a PDF file and
• taking a photograph of the pages of a publication.

You may use copies in teaching to supplement your normal teaching and learning material, as course material, as part of materials and tests that you have prepared yourself, as part of an entrance exam to the institution of higher education and in the internal administrative activities of the institution of higher education. Our copying licence also allows students to copy images and text extracts for their projects, assignments or theses.

Purposes for which you may not copy:

• You may not substitute the acquisition of or subscription to original material with copies.
• You may not make material banks or databases of works, publications or parts thereof available to students or staff of the institution of higher education.
• Nor may you distribute or publish copies openly on the internet, publish them in a printed publication or use them in any other publishing activities.

In teaching, copies may be

• distributed to students as paper copies or printouts,
• included as part of teaching material or a test that you have prepared yourself,

• stored on a closed network to be made available to a teaching group,
• used for distance, hybrid and online learning in accordance with the licence terms,
• shown, projected or otherwise presented in a teaching situation to students present,
• given to another teacher or lecturer if you are collaborating in a teaching situation,
• included as part of an entrance exam prepared by the institution of higher education or stored to be made available to those taking the entrance exam,

• supplemented by highlighting, annotation or similar markings to illustrate the subject being taught.

Digital copies and recordings may be kept available on a closed learning platform for your teaching group for the duration of the study unit, course or equivalent teaching period. This includes any final examinations and tests related to the course or unit. After the exam, you may store any material you have prepared yourself, including copies made under the copying licence, on a closed network, accessible only to the staff of your institution of higher education.

As a learner, you may include copies as part of your project or assignment.

In distance learning, you may show images and read text material and other content. You may also show a publisher’s digital learning material used in teaching if a licence for the material has been obtained for all students.

A recording of a teaching situation may include any works covered by the copying licence that are shown or presented during the teaching situation. You can share the recording with your teaching group on a closed learning platform used by your institution of higher education. You or another educator must also consent to the recording of the teaching situation.

In distance learning, you may listen to audio recordings included in a printed textbook. You may also save any relevant parts of the recording in a closed learning environment. You may use the digital audio files of learning materials in accordance with their respective licences.

In distance and online learning, unlike in other teaching, you may copy a part of a workbook or answer key necessary for revision purposes, as long as the students and the teacher have the original workbook or answer key in their possession.

As part of teaching, you may translate literary works or parts thereof into another language, with the exception of song lyrics. You may adapt works covered by the licence in a teaching situation when the adaptation of the work is necessary for the teaching of a subject matter, with the exception of sheet music, song lyrics and a publisher’s learning materials. The translation or adaptation may not be published or used for any other purpose than teaching.

Research refers to non-commercial scientific or artistic research, survey, thesis or other degree work carried out by a student, researcher or staff member of the institution of higher education. Research is not considered to be commercial solely based on outside funding.

Copyright does not generally restrict the use of material as a research subject or source. However, research often requires copying, storing and sharing copyrighted material made by others. This requires permission from the copyright holder.

Under the copying licence, you may copy works and publications for research purposes to the required extent, provided that the copying is necessary to further the research. You may save any copies you have created for research purposes on the institution of higher education’s closed network or server so that they can be accessed by the research group for which the copies were made. You may also distribute the copies to the research group by email.

Under Kopiosto’s copying licence, you may copy even large volumes of text and entire publications covered by the licence without any page limits for research purposes, to the extent required by the research. Our copying licence applies to literary and visual works, including photographs. Check the licence terms to see which materials are not covered by our copying licence. If you want to use or copy material not covered by our copying licence, you can request an authorisation directly from the author or publisher.

The copying licence does not allow you to publish the copies as part of a publication or openly on the internet.

How long copies may be used and stored 

During the research, copies you have made for research purposes may be available to the research group until the research is completed.

You may store the copies you have made for research purposes in accordance with the law or other provisions governing research.

After the research, you may store the copies you have made for a specific research project for the verification of the study or further research in a closed, certified archive in a manner agreed upon separately by the institution of higher education and Kopiosto. Such an agreement has been made with the  Finnish Social Science Data Archive.

For more information, see Section 6 of the licence terms.

See Kopiosto’s licence terms for institutions of higher education. Always consult the licence terms to check the scope of the copying licence.