Surely copyright does not exist on the web and I can incorporate other web based materials into my site freely?
NO! Copyright exists on web-based materials in the same way as other published materials. You cannot cut and paste information or images into your site from another site without permission. If you wish to direct students to other web based materials, you can link to other websites, see below. Before downloading or copying any material from the web you should pay particular attention to any copyright statement, terms and conditions or licence attached to the site. Increasingly, organisations are including this information prominently on their site and you should read it and take note of any specific restrictions. For example, see the BBC’s terms of use for their website. Many educational websites will freely grant permission for other academics to use their material. You will need to identify the copyright holder and often the webmaster for a site is the most useful first point of contact. Their contact details are usually included on the bottom of web pages. Images are equally covered
