Educational institutions

Our copying licence enables the pupils, students, teachers and other staff members of educational institutions to produce copies.

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,
• works, such as images or texts, that have been published on the internet with the copyright holder’s consent or
• e-books, publications behind a paywall or other digital publications to which you have contractual or subscription-based access or which are freely available.

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.

Our 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 to the extent permitted by the licence, 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 part of an entrance exam to the educational institution and in the internal administrative activities of the educational institution. Learners are also allowed to copy images and text extracts with our copying licence as part of their projects and assignments.

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 learners or staff of the educational institution.

• 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 a teaching group 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 learners present,
• given to another teacher if you are collaborating in a teaching situation,

• included as part of an entrance exam prepared by the educational institution or stored in a closed network 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. In comprehensive schools, the material may remain on the learning platform for one school year. In general upper secondary schools, the material may remain on the learning platform for the entire duration of the studies, up to a maximum of four years.

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 learners.

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 educational institution. 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 learners 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.

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

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