I have just come across the Web site at
http://www.unofficial-guides.com/
which again has links to UK HEIs.

Is there a consensus on what we feel is acceptable and what is not? Perhaps
if we can reach agreement we can write a FAQ for the list.

My starter:

Linking To UK HEI Web sites
-------------------------------------------

Linking to UK HEI Web site (using standard <A> HTML tags) is permitted
without needing permission.

If a link is made which brings the institution in disrepute and damages the
reputation of the institution ("Web sites that suck") there may be a case to
be made in law.  However this is likely to be expensive and lead to a
dangerous precedent (having to seek permission for all links / loss of
academic freedom to quote).  If this happens, ask them to remove the link
first. [NOTE can we agree on a form of words]

In general UK HEIs encourage links to resources on their Web sites as this
assists in the dissemination / drives traffic to the Web site / boosts
citation rankings services (such as Google).

Linking To UK HEI Web sites From Poor Quality Web sites.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
----------

We may find that we are linked to from third party sites which we feel are
of poor quality (content is poor, we don't like the HTML ?Flash, etc on
their Web site), we don't like their value system ("Bill Gates Fans In
Favour Of Privatising Education"), etc. but is not illegal.

Legally, we probably can't (and shouldn't do anything about this).

There is nothing to stop us from requesting that a link is removed.

Using Frames With UK HEI Web sites
--------------------------------------------------------

Providing a frame around a third party's Web site is frowned upon by the UK
HE Web management community.  However there may be certain circumstances in
which it is needed.  UK HEIs should not provide code to automatically break
out of frames, without carefully considering the consequences.

Masquerading the content of a third party's Web site using frames may well
be illegal.  If this happens, you should contact the third party and your
legal representatives and ask them to desist.

Using Images Taken From UK HEI Web sites
-----------------------------------------------------------------

Using images (e.g. logos) taken from UK HEI Web sites is likely to infringe
the HEI's copyright.

There may be reasons for wishing third parties to use your logos (to brand a
link to your Web site from their page - as is often done with links to
services such as AltaVista).  If you wish to do this, you should probably
provide a page with the terms, an AUP and possibly use a different image
(watermarked).

Using Content Taken From UK HEI Web sites
-------------------------------------------------------------------

Using content taken from UK HEI Web sites is likely to infringe the
copyright holders rights.  There will be exceptions (fair use) and grey
areas: The copyright of this message belongs to me - or my organisation.
Can you forward it without seeking my permission?

Many of us will want our content to be used by third parties (which is why
we have units which churn out Press Releases).  We will probably have to
flag such content (in a human readable manner).  In future we will produce
materials (such as newsfeeds) for use by third parties.  These will have
implicit rights for reuse.

Comments?

Brian

--------------------------------------------------------------
Brian Kelly
UKOLN
University of Bath
BATH
BA2 7AY
Email: [log in to unmask]
Phone: (+44) 1225 323943