Publishing your work
- Choosing a publication channel
Consider where and how you want to present your work, where it should be published, and why specifically there. If this is a course project, how widely in your school/college will it be disseminated?
Remember that if you have used copyright material in your work under your school/college’s ICLA copying licence, the licence cannot be used if you publish your work outside your school/college. - Copyright to your own work
Whenever you create an original piece of work, whether it is a text, an image, a piece of music, or a video or any other work resulting from your creative effort, you automatically have copyright to it. Copyright protection means that no one else can use or publish your work without your permission. For example, if you do not want a text you have written, or a photograph you have taken, to be published or shared on the internet, it cannot be used by the school/college in any of their publications or shared online or on social media without your consent. If the creator of a work is a minor (under 18), permission from their guardian(s) is also required to use the work.
Copyright arises automatically when the work is ‘fixed’ or recorded in some way. It does not require the use of the copyright symbol or registration. Copyright lasts for 70 years after the death of the creator. After that, the work can be used without permission.
However, not all types of work are protected by copyright. A work must be sufficiently independent and original to be protected by copyright – that is, it must exceed the threshold of originality.
More information about copyright can be found in the Information about Copyright section. - Checking publication permissions
If you have used any works by other people in your work, you must ensure that you have all the necessary permissions for use and publication and that you have acknowledged the source.
Information about usage permissions and copyright can be found in the Checklist for school/college projects and in the Information about Copyright section of this website.
You can also check which permissions are required using the Checklist Generator.
