Here's how to use standards within your Organisation in a proper and copyright-compliant way 

Do you sometimes use standards within your Organisation? How do you do it correctly, taking into account copyright? We are happy to help you on your way! That way you can be sure that you don't run any legal or financial risks.

What are standards and how do they come about?

A standard is an agreement or best practice about products, services or processes in different domains. Producers, suppliers or customers thus apply standards voluntarily.

If you use a standard and then want to share that content with colleagues, you should check that they also have legitimate access to that standard. With the exception of some legal uses, you may not share the content of a standard that you individually have access to.  

Standardsand copyright

Copyrights are legal rights that authors grant to their original and creative works. It protects copyright holders from unlawful copying or distribution of their intellectual property. Standards, whether in physical or digital form, are also covered by that copyright.  

In fact, standards are created through in-depth collaboration between experts from different organizations. The parties involved come together to have informed discussions based on research, knowledge and practical experience. At the end, a standard - a consensus - on a particular topic emerges from this collaboration.  

How do you use standards correctly? 

It's best to be careful not to violate copyright on a standard. NBN offers several formulas for you and your Organisation to work copyright-compliant with standards. 

After all, under copyright law you are not allowed to share a standard. Not with a colleague, not on the intranet of your Organisation, but also not with other companies as part of a tender or specifications.So how do you handle it correctly?

Single-use purchase

A purchase of a standard in the NBN shop is always 'single-use'. This means that when you purchase a standard, you may consult it, download it onto your own device and print a working copy for your personal use. When you open or download the standard, a watermark is added with your email address and contact details. Only you may then use that standard in its entirety. So the entire content may not be shared with colleagues, customers, suppliers, and so on.  

What is allowed: reproducing excerpts from a purchased standard in working documents for internal use. Such an excerpt may be, for example, a manual or a particular procedure.  

Subscription

Is there a need within your organisation to share certain standards between different colleagues? Or do different people need access to a standard? Then it is best to opt for a subscription formula with NBN. This way you can share standards within organisation without violating the copyright on standards. Your colleagues then have legitimate access to the standard themselves.  

Read-only

If you teach or take classes at a recognized educational institution, you can consult the standards from the NBN catalog free of charge through the NBN Edu portal. Your access is then 'read-only'. You may not and cannot download the standard, but you can read it.