Saffron Blaze, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

It looks like the much-loved ‘Gruffalo’ and ‘Gruffalo’s Child’ books, created by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler, have a sequel: ‘The Grufallo’s Rights’. A recent story reported on BBC news involves a copyright dispute over the Gruffalo and other characters featuring in the books. 

Until recently, sculptures of the Gruffalo, the mouse and other characters featuring in Julia Donaldson’s story were displayed as part of a trail in Orrest Head in the Lake District. However, a letter from Magic Light Pictures (the company that manages the rights to the characters) asked that they be removed, as permission was not given to display them. As the letter pointed out, infringing the copyright to the characters by displaying them without a licence competed with nearby Gruffalo trails already licensed to Forestry England. 

Every story has a moral and in this case the moral is simple: if a creative work (in this case, the Gruffalo) is protected by copyright, then permission is normally necessary to reuse it. Using a copyright work without permission may be copyright infringement, leading to take-down notices, letters and, in some cases, fines. This applies to any works protected by copyright, including articles, books, music, images and software that we use in lectures, course assignents, dissertations, social media, publications and any other works.

Using copyright exceptions

Does this mean that, unless we get permission or a licence from the rights owners we should never use other people’s materials? Of course not. While in some cases (such as the Gruffalo trail) permission is the best option, relying on copyright exceptions and fair dealing can support our scholarly and creative activities. Like the resourceful and imaginative mouse in the Gruffalo stories, as users and creators of copyright materials we can, and should consider, relying on these exceptions when they apply.

Understanding copyright and making decisions based on this understanding is at the core of what we call ‘copyright literacy’. A new UCL copyright literacy community has been set up to help you navigate the ‘deep dark woods’ of copyright along with peers, in a relaxed and friendly environment.

To learn more about copyright and exceptions:

• Join the new UCL Copyright Literacy Community today. Share the link with anyone else at UCL you think might be interested.
• Register to play the Copyright for Humans game: a card game involving copyright debates, nonsensical answers and optional singing for extra points. Copyright knowledge is not necessary for joining. If you cannot make the scheduled date, you can contact copyright@ucl.ac.uk to arrange a different session. 
• Complete the self-paced online Copyright Essentials tutorial to learn a few things about copyright, open licences and Yoda.
• If you are at the Student Centre on Thursday the 27th of March any time between 12 and 4 pm, join our stand to say hello, see a quick demo of the copyright game and have some treats. Looking forward to seeing you there.