UCC Library: Copyright : What happens if you don't follow copyright law?

In a Higher Education institution like University College Cork, you’ll frequently use copyrighted materials in your academic work—whether quoting texts in essays, showing clips in presentations, or performing music in recitals. Fortunately, Irish copyright law provides specific exceptions that support educational use, including 'fair dealing'.

However, it’s important to understand what’s allowed under these exceptions before copying, reusing, or adapting any materials.

Academic consequences of misuse

Unless you follow the rules around copyright, you are likely to face various penalties. Misusing copyrighted content—such as copying without citation, exceeding fair dealing limits, or using material without permission—can be considered a breach of academic integrity.

This may result in disciplinary action under UCC's Academic Integrity for Examinations and Assessments Policy including one or more of the following:

Loss of marks (or mark of zero) for an individual submission
Failure of a whole module
Other disciplinary actions

You may wish to consult UCC's Academic Integrity for Examinations and Assessments Policy for further information about best practice in using copyrighted materials.

The Library's Study and Assignment Essentials workshops cover appropriate ways to use copyrighted materials within your academic work.

Legal consequences

Outside the academic context, commercial or willful infringement of copyright is a legal offence, and can result in:

Civil claims for damages or injunctions
Criminal prosecution (in cases of willful infringement), with possible penalties including fines or imprisonment