Legal FAQs

Digital media play a central part in university life today, however the legal position of publications on the Internet is often unclear. The following articles offer guidance on legal aspects that must be taken into consideration for online teaching.

Special attention should be given to the topics “Use of copyright-protected material in teaching practice” and “Guidelines for video and audio recordings”, such as when recording lectures for use as PodCasts or video recordings. In these contexts, both copyright law and individual rights apply.

When using teaching material on online platforms – such as the university’s learning management system Stud.IP or public platforms such as YouTube – it is essential that the fundamentals of these laws are observed.

The following pages were compiled by the service for Digital Learning and Teaching of the University of Göttingen, based on materials from the E-Learning-Service department (elsa) of Leibniz Universität Hannover and with the cooperation of the legal department of the Georg-August-University Göttingen and Dr. Janine Horn from ELAN e.V., Lower Saxony. We would like to thank them for their friendly cooperation and expert support.

This information should not be considered as binding legal advice. For queries concerning legal aspects of e-learning please contact the service for Digital Learning and Teaching, which feeds back such queries into the information and training on offer and when necessary refers to the legal department of the university.