Copyright

The Copyright Act 1968 (Commonwealth) provides the legislative framework for the creation, copying and communication of electronic and print material at South West Healthcare. All South West Healthcare staff and students must comply with the Act. Copyright Policy. 

Copyright owners are entitled to take legal action against persons who infringe their copyright. A reproduction of material that is protected by copyright may be a copyright infringement.

Quick Guide

Use of copyright material for research or study will not break copyright rules, provided that the use is ‘fair’.

Fair Dealing defines the amount of the copyright item you can use for your research or study. 

You Can:

   you can copy/scan:

  • 10% of the number of pages of the book; or
  • One chapter, if the work is divided into chapters
  • The whole journal article, or more than one article from that same issue if each article is for the same research

   For text material in electronic form you can copy/download:

  • 10% of the number of words; or
  • One chapter, if the work is divided into chapters
  • The whole journal article, or more than one article from that same issue if each article is for the same research

You Cannot:

  • Email copies of anything you have downloaded from the Internet to share with others. You can email/share the URL of the item as this does not break copyright/licensing restrictions. 
  • Share any document that you have requested the library provide to you. Direct the person who requires a copy of the document to the library and we will source a copy for them too.

For text, images or audio visual material from the Internet always check for any the terms and condition of use before downloading or sharing. Just because the material is freely available, does not necessarily mean it is free to use.


What is protected by copyright?

Copyright protects the expression of an idea, not the idea itself. For a work to receive copyright protection it must be 'original' and it must be 'reduced to material form' but there is no requirement that the work have literary or artistic merit in order to attract copyright protection. To be considered 'original' requires only that the author of the work has used some skill, ingenuity and labour in making the work, not that the thought or idea embodied in the work be novel or new. Copyright is divided into 'works' and 'subject matter other than works'. Works inlude:

  • literary works means any text including monographs, journal articles, reports, computer programs, poems, lyrics and tables

  • dramatic works, that is scripts and choreography

  • musical works or musical compositions in written form

  • artistic works including photographs, diagrams, cartoons, illustrations, maps, graphs, building plans, sculptures and drawings.

'Subject matter other than works' include:

  • sound recordings

  • cinematographic films

  • television and sound broadcasts and

  • published editions of works.

The copyright in 'subject matter other than works' is independent of rights in the literary, dramatic, musical or artistic works within these items. This means obtaining permission from each of the copyright owners of the separate works. For example, a television broadcast of a film attracts its own copyright. So too does the film that is broadcast.

How long does copyright last?

Copyright usually lasts for the period of the life of the author plus 70 years. If a work is unpublished and the author is not known, then copyright lasts 70 years after creation. The term of duration for copyright may differ from one country to the next. Once the copyright in a work has expired the work may be used freely by anyone.

When copyright is expired the work is in the public domain. Most online work will not be in the public domain because it was created recently. Changing a work in the public domain can create a new copyright work. For material that includes several copyright works, the copyright must be expired in each work before the material is entirely public domain.

What is copyright infringement?

An infringement of copyright occurs where a substantial part of the work or other subject matter is copied, reproduced, published, performed or communicated without permission or a relevant copyright exception. 'Substantial part' is not defined in the Copyright Act, but courts have stressed it is the quality of what is used rather than the quantity, that is significant.

More Information

Fair Dealing

  • Fair dealing provisions cover copying for (personal) research or study, criticism or review, reporting the news, parody or satire, and purposes relating to judicial proceedings.
  • Fair dealing for personal research or study allows for the copying of:
    • The whole or part of an article in a periodical
    • More than one article in the same edition of a periodical where the articles are required for the same research or study
    • If copying text from a printed or electronic edition or book you may copy 10% of the quantity or one chapter – whichever is the greater

Linking

  • This is not a copyright activity because you are not actually 'copying' or reproducing any material when you provide a link, you are simply providing a path to the material’s location.

This is done by supplying the URL link to the material, not the material itself.

Embedding

  • Embedding is a type of linking that allows material to be displayed on your website without the URL being visible. This means that the viewer is able to access/view the material from its original online location without having to leave your webpage. This is commonly used for displaying online films, for example YouTube videos. It is done by copying the HTML code of the content and pasting it onto your webpage or GROW Course.


Copyright Categories
Due to copyright restrictions you may be unable to 'reproduce' or copy the material without infringing on copyright.

There are 3 main copyright categories to consider when using or wanting to reproduce materials:

  • Material in the public domain: Material that isn’t covered by any copyright; you are able to use it freely in your documents or webpages with no restrictions.
  • Material under Creative Commons: Material that has been released under a CC licence makes it clear to users what they can or cannot do with the material - http://creativecommons.org.au/learn/licences/.
  • Material covered by copyright: You need to get permission from the author/creator to use this material.

Further Information

Information about Copyright and Publishing found library education page here. 

Australian Copyright Council website http://www.copyright.org.au/ 
Australian Copyright Council's information sheets: 

          Research or Study

          Fair Dealing: What Can I use without Permission 

          Internet: Copying & Downloading

          An Introduction to Copyright in Australia 

          Creative Commons Australia Information