Copyright
Basic Information
The University, its staff and students are subject to the requirements of the Commonwealth of Australia Copyright Act 1968 (and amendments).
The underlying principle of copyright law is to grant authors and creators (and those who invest in their work, e.g., publishers) prescribed rights over the work, and to reward them for the time and effort required to put an idea into a material form - be it an essay, poem, book, computer program, drawing (technical or artistic), painting or sculpture, etc.
The Copyright Act automatically protects any literary (including computer programs), dramatic, artistic or musical work. Other material protected includes broadcast signals, films, sound recordings, and published editions.
Except as provided by the Copyright Act the copyright owner controls access to the following uses of their works:
• Reproduction - photocopying, scanning, OCR, rewriting, duplicating, recording.
• Publish - Make available to the public
• Communicate to the Public - email, make available via web, datacasting, streaming, etc
• Public Performance - Live or recorded.
• Broadcast - Radio, TV or cable.
• Adaptation
Exceptions
As a student you may make one copy a reasonable portion of a copyright work for the purpose of research or study. This means you cannot make more than one copy and your use of the copy must be for research or study purposes. This only applies to printed or electronic copies of the works and does not relate to performances or recordings.
A reasonable portion is defined as:
• One chapter or 10% of the total number of pages from a literary, dramatic or music (sheet music) work.
• One or more articles from the same periodical publication (i.e. journal) if they relate to the same subject matter;
• The term “reasonable portion” is not defined in relation to works of less than 10 pages, or in relation to artistic or audio-visual works.
Outside these limits you need to be able to demonstrate your copying was fair.
It should be noted that diagrams, tables, graphs, maps, photographs, colour plates of artwork are complete “works” in their own right. They may be copied only when they accompany text to which they refer or such copying is fair.
Copyright Owner's Permission
If you are in doubt about the legality of any copying you can always seek the copyright owner's permission. Sometimes you will already have this permission in the form of a licence.
Duration of copyright
In Australia, normally the duration of copyright for most literary, dramatic, musical and artistic works (except photographs) lasts for the life of the author plus 50 years. A published edition copyright lasts for 25 years from publication. Different periods of duration of copyright apply to photographs, films, sound recordings, performances, broadcasts, works in which the government owns the copyright and works unpublished at the time of the author's death, and further information should be sought as required.
Copyright Ownership of Student Work
As a student you will own the copyright of any original work you create. This means that the University, staff or anyone else can not exercise any of the rights in your work (e.g. reproduce, copy, communicate, broadcast, etc) without your permission. If the University wishes to use any of your works then you will be asked to sign a release form.
© Symbol
The © symbol is not required to protect the copyright in a work. However, we recommend you insert the © symbol in all your works to remind users your work is protected by the Copyright Act.
Internet
All material published on the Internet is automatically protected by copyright. For work protected by copyright, material may be printed or downloaded only as detailed above. Often web sites will include a copyright notice which describes what use can be made of the material.
Computer Software
Computer programs are protected by the Copyright Act as “literary works”. The copying of computer programs protected by copyright using any University equipment is prohibited. Only authorised, licensed software may be installed on University equipment.
Quotes and Referencing
Paraphrasing or quoting a substantial portion of a work is a reproduction and subject to the rules outlined above. The Copyright Act now includes moral rights which require you to acknowledge the author of any works you use. Generally, this will be covered by the University's academic rules in relation to referencing and plagiarism.
Further information may be obtained from the University's Copyright Officer who is a very friendly person.
copyright@ecu.edu.au
http://www.ecu.edu.au/GPPS/copyright/
+61 (0)8 9273 8537