COPYRIGHT AND IP INFORMATION
Staff and students are both users and creators of copyright material. This site provides staff and students with an overview of copyright law as relates to learning, teaching and research.
Teaching and Copyright
Australian copyright law provides educational institutions with exceptions to infringement to copy and communicate certain copyright material under certain conditions and limitations.
The Copyright Act 1968 allows you to use copyright material without permission if your use is a “fair dealing” for one of the following purposes:
- research or study;
- criticism or review;
- parody or satire;
- reporting news; or
- professional advice by a lawyer, patent attorney or trade marks attorney.
The statutory licence allows educational institutions covered by a remuneration notice with Copyright Agency to copy and communicate text, images and notated music for educational purpose up to certain limits. Not only can educational institutions make hard copies of material for their students, they can also upload the material to a secured shared drive or learning management system or email the material to students directly.
In most cases, the amount that can be copied and communicated is limited to a “reasonable portion” (eg., 10% or 1 chapter) if the work is available for purchase.
For the purpose of research or study the Act provides staff and students (or any other individual) can copy
- 10% of the number of pages of a literary work, or one chapter of a work if it is divided into chapters. The work must be more than 10 pages long.
- 10% of the number of words of a literary work if it is in electronic form.
- One article from an issue/edition of a periodical publication such as journal or newspaper. More than one article can be copied if they relate to the same research or course of study
For more information:
https://www.copyright.org.au/ACC_Prod/ACC/Information_Sheets/Education__Copyright_Basics.aspx
https://www.copyright.org.au/ACC_Prod/ACC/Information_Sheets/Education_-_Concerts__Plays___Musicals.aspx
Infringement of Copyright
Copyright is infringed when someone (other than the copyright owner) exercises any of the exclusive rights of the owner without their permission and no other exceptions apply. Copyright infringement is quite often a civil matter, however there are circumstances where copyright infringement is regarded as a criminal offence.
Penalties in relation to infringement are usually greatest where the economic impact of the breach is significant. This is often the case when files are electronically communicated to many others, such as through file sharing or uploading material on the internet. Music and film piracy is a major focus of action by the film and music industry. Therefore, it is imperative that