Copyright at university and schools

Using the following website:


http://www.copyright.org.au/pdf/acc/infosheets_pdf/g053.pdf/download

We can answer the following questions as:

Can I copy material from the internet for research?

Australian Copyright Council summarises it as follows:

• You will not infringe copyright if you use material for the purposes of research or study, provided that your use is fair.

• You do not need to be enrolled in a course – you could be researching or studying something for yourself.

• In some cases, specific provisions in the Copyright Act allow people working in libraries to copy material for you if you need it for research or study.

What constitutes research and fair use?

It is fair to copy or reproduce a copyright material if only a small portion of the material (as mentioned by the Act) is being done. The Act says that just 10% of the copyright material can be copied or if the material is in chapter form then it is fair to copy one chapter. In case of photographs, drawings and unpublished material, however, the Act does not state anything about what portion of the material could be copied.

In Copyright Act ‘research’ has the same meaning as described by the Macquarie dictionary as “diligent and systematic enquiry or investigation into a subject in order to discover facts or principles...”

Can students ( university or school ) use music in videos that they make?

The website http://www.copyright.org.au/g038.pdf answers this question by saying that in general, students would need permission of the music owner (usually a music publisher) to use the music in their videos, however, they could be allowed in a few limited situations.