Almost all the material you use in your studies is protected under copyright law, even things you find on the internet. This includes texts, illustrations, photos, music, articles, books, etc. There are several rules in the Swedish Copyright Act which dictates how you are allowed to use other people's work.

Copyright is always automatically in effect, there is no need to register anything, or protect it with a © symbol. The symbol is simply used to signal that copyright is in effect. In Sweden, copyright protection is valid during the copyright holder's entire lifetime, and for an additional 70 years following their death.

Copyright gives the person who created something the right to decide how, and if, their work is allowed to be copied, changed, and shared. The economic right can be transferred over to someone else, for example, a publisher. However, copyright also consists of a moral right, which states that you have to give credit to the original creator when spreading their work to others. In addition to referencing properly, in order to use the material found in a text (such as images and diagrams) you have to ask the copyright holder for permission, regardless if it has been made available on the internet or published physically.

You will find more information on copyright protection on the library's website.