Personality rights and copyright

Before you can use images and text obtained from the internet, you have to obtain written permission from the rights holder or ensure that the work in question is in the public domain or covered by a free licence.

When using external material on the website of the University of Passau, you must comply with the applicable laws – specifically data protection, copyright, personality rights and the right to one's image. By making the content available you declare that it is not subject to a third party's copyright or that you have permission to use the content. If you, as the responsible person, publish third-party content without the proper permissions, the University is liable for damages. If you are unsure whether your content is copyright-protected, you must not use the material until you have ascertained the copyright status.

• Texts taken from other (print or web) publications
• Cartographic material (e.g. street maps and other maps of any kind)
• Photographs, video clips and other graphical elements
• Music titles

• Royalty-free photographs, e.g. pictures you have taken yourself or sourced from the photo database of the University.
• PDF documents that only contain texts written by you.

You can generally publish photographs where people form part of the backdrop (e.g. landscape photography or photographs of places of interest or crowds at public events) on the internet without having to ask permission. This is irrespective of whether the depicted persons are adults or minors. However, if individual persons can be clearly identified, e.g. because they are in the foreground, you must obtain their permission before proceeding to publish the photograph.

In the case of minors, you have to obtain (written) permission from the parents or legal guardians as well as the children or adolescents themselves before publishing their pictures, and to be on the safe side, you should also get permission for having their picture taken in the first place.

If you send out invitations for an event, you could use this as an opportunity to inform the guests that photographic, film or other media recordings will be made and that all participants are deemed to have consented to publication of these images or recordings unless they have objected before attending the event. If you cannot inform your guests beforehand, it is vital to get the required permissions at the start of the event.

Please remember that you do not have the copyright for your own passport photograph. This right is usually held by the photographer, who has to give you permission for publication on the internet.

Any infringement of personality rights and copyright may be prosecuted in the civil and criminal courts. Because of this, the rule of thumb is: when in doubt, ask permission.

• Standard model release form for photographs (English and German)
• Standard copyright permission form for photographs (German)